||E  USEFUyi 

A  CROWN  TO  THE  SIMa 


I 


THE 

USEFUL  LIFE 

A   CROWN   TO   THE   SIMPLE   LIFE 


AS  TAUGHT  BY 

EMANUEL    SWEDENBORG 

WITH   AN   INTRODUCTION   BY 

JOHN    BIGELOW 


NuUus  argento  color  est,  avaris 
Abditae  terris,  inimice  lamnae, 
nisi  temperato 
Splendeat  usu. 

Horace,  Lib.  II.  Ode  II. 


NEW    YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER^S   SONS 

1905 


I 


ABBREVIATIONS 

or   THE   WORKS   OF  SWEDENBORG   FROM   WHICH   THE   EXTRACTS 
THAT   FOLLOW   WERE    SELECTED 

Arcana  Ccelestia A.  C. 

Heaven  and  Hell H.  H. 

Divine  Providence D.  P. 

Divine  Love  and  Wisdom D.  L. 

CoNJUGiAL  Love C.  L. 

True  Christian  Religion T. 

Apocalypse  Revealed A.  R. 

Memorable  Relations M.  R. 

The  chapter  and  verse  of  the  Bible  are  given  to  those 
selections  which  are  commentaries  upon  them. 


<  372974 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


INTRODUCTION 


The  Gospel  of  the  Simple  Life  has  recently 
had,  with  us,  its  well-merited  Apostolate.  Its 
welcome  here  justifies  the  belief  that  it  has  left 
an  impression  upon  the  heart  of  the  nations  that 
will  help  much  to  "  fill  the  earth  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea."  Though  the  Simple  Life  is  one  of  the 
processes,  it  is  not  a  consummation  of  the  Cre- 
ator's purposes  in  making  man  in  his  own  Im- 
age. One's  life  may  be  and  often  is  very  simple, 
with  a  corresponding  lack  of  Spiritual  vigor. 

Useful,  even  vital,  as  the  Simple  Life  may  be, 
it  is  at  best  but  a  station,  not  a  terminal,  in  the  de- 


INTRODUCTION 

velopment  of  the  regenerating  soul.  The  free- 
dom from  perplexing  worldly  cares  implied  in 
the  Simple  Life  does  not  exempt  us  from  any 
toil  or  from  the  struggles  with  any  of  the  tempta- 
tions, the  overcoming  of  which  is  necessary  for 
the  purification  of  our  lives.  When  the  parents 
of  Jesus,  yet  a  youth,  sought  him  sorrowing  and 
found  him  in  the  temple  sitting  with  the  doctors, 
"  both  hearing  them  and  asking  them  questions," 
he  replied  to  his  mother,  "How  is  it  that  ye 
sought  me?  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my 
Father's  business?"^ 

Again,  when  the  Jews  took  up  stones  to  throw 
at  him  for  what  they  called  blasphemy,  he  said : 

Many  good  works  have  I  shewed  you  from  the  Father ; 
for  which  of  those  works  do  ye  stone  me  ?   .   .   . 

If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  me  not. 
But  if  I  do  them,  though  ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the 
works:  that  ye  may  know  and  understand  that  the  Fa- 
ther is  in  me,  and  I  in  the  Father.^ 

Here  we  see  that  he  who  could  speak  "  as  never 
man  spake"  appealed  to  his  works  to  testify  to 
the  truths  he  sought  to  teach. 

The  anchorites  of  the  Thebaid  and  their  im- 

1  Luke  ii.  49.  2  john  x.  32,  37,  38. 

vi 


INTRODUCTION 

itators  who  neglect  their  duties  to  the  world, 
under  the  delusion  of  thus  escaping  temptations, 
led  simple  lives  while  possibly  obeying  the  most 
selfish  impulses  of  an  unregenerate  nature.  Paul 
of  Thebes,  denominated  by  St.  Jerome,  who  wrote 
his  life,  Auctor  Vitce  Monasticce— the  Author  of 
the  Monastic  System — when  he  was  fifteen  years 
of  age,  took  refuge  from  the  temptations  of  the 
world  in  a  cave  on  a  lofty  mountain  in  Libya,  the 
entrance  to  which  was  disguised  by  a  large  stone. 
Before  this  cave  grew  a  palm-tree,  and  near  the 
palm-tree  was  a  spring  of  water.  Here  he  lived, 
says  his  biographer,  until  he  was  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  years  old,  without  seeing  any  man — 
until,  near  the  close  of  his  life,  St.  Anthony 
looked  him  up — drinking  the  water  from  this 
spring,  eating  the  fruit  of  this  palm-tree,  and 
clothing  himself  in  a  garment  made  of  its  leaves. 
All  the  property  he  left  at  his  death  was  a  gar- 
ment made  of  leaves  from  the  same  tree.  Though 
perhaps  some  of  these  details  were  a  little  ex- 
aggerated by  his  pious  biographer,  they  do  not 
in  the  least  exaggerate  the  selfish  delusions 
of  crowds  of  anchorites  like  Paul  of  Thebes, 
Simeon  Stylites,  St.  Anthony  of  Thebes,  and  St. 

vii 


INTRODUCTION 

Mary  of  Egypt,  whom  Zosimus  found,  after 
forty-four  years  of  solitude,  burned  brown  with 
the  sun  and  clothed  only  with  her  long  white 
hair— ascetics  who  never  thought  of  securing 
eternal  happiness  for  any  but  themselves,  nor 
of  delivering  any  one  but  themselves  from  the 
horrors  of  their  imaginary  hell. 

The  late  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  in  "Our 
Lady  of  the  Snows,"  has  set  the  quality  of  this 
kind  of  simple  life  most  fitly  to  the  thrilling 
music  of  his  verse : 

Out  of  the  sun,  out  of  the  blast. 
Out  of  the  world,  alone  I  passed 
Across  the  moor  and  through  the  wood 
To  where  the  monastery  ^  stood. 
There  neither  lute  nor  breathing  fife. 
Nor  rumour  of  the  world  of  life, 
Nor  confidences  low  and  dear, 
Shall  strike  the  meditative  ear. 

And  ye,  O  brethren,  what  if  God, 
When  from  Heav'n's  top  he  spies  abroad. 
And  sees  on  this  tormented  stage 
The  noble  war  of  mankind  rage: 
What  if  his  vivifying  eye, 
O  monks,  should  pass  your  corner  by.? 
viii 


INTRODUCTION 

For  still  the  Lord  is  Lord  of  might ; 
In  deeds,  in  deeds,  he  takes  delight; 
The  plough,  the  spear,  the  laden  barks, 
The  field,  the  founded  city  marks ; 
He  marks  the  smiler  of  the  streets, 
The  singer  upon  garden  seats ; 
He  sees  the  climber  in  the  rocks ; 
To  him,  the  shepherd  folds  his  flocks. 
For  those  he  loves  that  underprop 
With  daily  virtues  Heaven's  top. 
And  bear  the  falling  sky  with  ease, 
Unfrowning  caryatides. 
Those  he  approves  that  ply  the  trade. 
That  rock  the  child,  that  wed  the  maid. 
That  with  weak  virtues,  weaker  hands. 
Sow  gladness  on  the  peopled  lands. 
And  still  with  laughter,  song  and  shout, 
Spin  the  great  wheel  of  earth  about. 

But  ye? — O  ye  who  linger  still 
Here  in  your  fortress  on  the  hill,-^ 
With  placid  face,  with  tranquil  breath, 
The  unsought  volunteers  of  death. 
Our  cheerful  General  on  high 
With  careless  looks  may  pass  you  by. 

1  The  destruction  of  this  famous  hospice  by  fire  transpired 
just  as  this  book  was  going  to  press.— J.  B. 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

There  is  nothing  taught  more  clearly  both  by 
precept  and  example  in  the  Bible  than  that  Use 
is  the  end  and  purpose  of  not  only  our  own  but 
of  all  creation;  that  all  Spiritual  life  consists  in 
Uses  and  that  even  God  himself  dwells  in  the 
Uses  of  what  he  has  created. 

It  is  Pharisees  like  those  who  stoned  Jesus  that 
in  all  ages  have  been  the  perverters  of  the  Sim.- 
ple  Life.  It  is  their  too  little  faith  in  God's 
Love  and  too  much  fear  of  what  they  apprehend 
from  his  wrath,  that  has  given  the  familiar  cur- 
rency of  a  proverb  to  the  question:  "  What  's  the 
Use?"  the  answer  to  which  is  implied  in  the 
question.  It  is  an  invocation  of  despair. 
Vf  hat  's  the  Use  of  pretending  to  do  to  others 
as  we  would  have  them  do  to  us ;  of  trying  to  love 
our  neighbors  as  ourselves;  of  trying  to  give  up 
our  pipe  or  our  bottle ;  of  resisting  the  gambling 
propensities  to  which  we  are  addicted ;  of  bother- 
ing ourselves  about  things  that  don't  pay,  or  of 
longer  contending  with  the  slings  and  arrows  of 
outrageous  fortune  ?  There  is  no  Use  in  tolerating 
our  bonds  with  an  unfaithful,  brutal,  or  worth- 
less husband,  or  the  nagging  of  a  termagant  or 
silly  wife;  in  striving  for  public  reforms  which 


INTRODUCTION 

never  realize  our  expectations.  "  Why,"  we  are 
prone  to  ask,  "  should  one  struggle  to  get  on  in 
this  world  honestly  and  respectably,  when  we 
see  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  ?  Why  not  rather 
exclaim,  in  the  language  of  the  Royal  Psalmist : 

Surely  in  vain  have  I  cleansed  my  heart. 
And  washed  my  hands  in  innocency."  ^ 

How  many,  too,  have  been  discouraged  by  fre- 
quent failures  and  are  ready  to  excuse  themselves 
from  putting  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel  again 
by  saying,  "It  is  too  deeply  mired:  what  's  the 
Use? "  How  many  have  capitulated  early  in  the 
battle  of  life  and  given  up  to  their  senses,  to  their 
appetites,  to  their  vanity,  to  their  lack  of  faith 
in  the  promises  of  their  Creator,  with  this  wail 
of  hopelessness  on  their  lips ! 

In  the  pages  w^hich  are  here  to  be  submitted 
to  the  reader  this  question  wdll  be  found  to  invite 
a  different  and  a  most  encouraging  answer. 
It  not  only  shows  what  is  the  Use,  but  also  gives 
us  the  assurance  that  Use  is  or  should  be  the 
purpose  and  end  of  everything  that  we  either  do, 
think,  or  say.    It  assumes : 

1  Psalm  Ixxiii. 
xi 


INTRODUCTION 

That  our  body  is  created  and  created  only  for 
the  execution  of  Uses ; 

That  all  the  delights  of  heaven  are  in  and  from 
Use; 

That  it  is  of  the  Providence  of  the  Lord  that 
there  should  be  no  person  or  thing  which  does  not 
perform  a  Use; 

That  by  Uses  we  approach  our  Maker; 

That  all  knowledges  should  have  Use  for  an 
end,  but  that  from  knowledge  alone  no  Use  re- 
sults. 

These  are  some  of  the  topics  expanded  and  il- 
lustrated in  the  following  pages,  and  are  more 
or  less  conspicuous  in  all  the  spiritual  writings  of 
their  author. 

Had  Swedenborg  contributed  nothing  else  to 
illumine  the  path  in  which  the  Christian  should 
walk  than  his  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  Uses, 
our  obligations  to  him  could  hardly  be  exagger- 
ated ;  for  it  is  safe  to  say  that  such  an  exposition 
is  to  be  found  in  no  other  literature  now  extant. 
We  have  plenty  of  adjurations  to  learn  and  try 
to  be  useful,  but  chiefly  to  be  useful  in  the  way 
that  seems  to  us  best  calculated  to  insure  tem- 
poral success.    The  proverbs  in  which  the  wisdom 

xii 


INTRODUCTION 

of  this  world  on  this  subject  is  prone  to  crystallize 
will  be  found  pretty  uniformly  to  favor  worldly 
interests,  rarely  looking  beyond  them.  They  tell 
us  that : 

The  sleeping  fox  catches  no  poultry. 

Sloth  makes  all  things  difficult. 

At  the  industrious  man's  house  hunger  looks  in  but 
dares  not  enter. 

Industry  pays  debts ;  despair  increases  them. 

Diligence  is  the  mother  of  good  luck. 

Plough  deep  while  sluggards  sleep, 

And  you  shall  have  corn  to  sell  and  to  keep. 

The  cat  in  gloves  catches  no  mice. 

The  eye  of  a  master  will  do  more  work  than  both 
his  hands. 

A  fat  kitchen  makes  a  lean  will. 

Get  what  you  can,  and  what  you  get  hold: 

'T  is  the  stone  that  will  turn  all  your  lead  into  gold. 

It  will  be  observed  that  all  these  proverbs  are 
true  enough  in  a  sense,  yet  all  of  them  have  self- 
ish limitations  and  are  mostly  used  as  worldly 
guides  to  success  in  our  business  or  to  the  grati- 
fication of  our  earthly  ambitions  and  carnal  ap- 
petites. They  may  minister  exclusively  to  our 
most  selfish  inclinations:  none  of  them  neces- 

xiii 


INTRODUCTION 

sarily  for  righteousness.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
doctrine  of  Use  as  laid  down  here  by  Sweden- 
borg  is  a  part,  and  a  vital  part,  of  one  of  the 
"two  great  Commandments,  on  which  hang  all 
the  Law  and  the  Prophets."  Use,  in  its  largest 
sense,  is  here  demonstrated  to  be  not  only  the 
proper  end  or  purpose  of  every  thought  and  act 
of  our  lives,  the  source  of  all  genuine  happiness 
here  and  hereafter,  the  very  purpose  for  which 
we  were  created;  but  the  source  of  all  the  happi- 
ness of  Angels,  Spiritual  and  Celestial,  and 
equally  of  Our  Father  in  Heaven,  whose  infinite 
love  is  devoted  unintermittingly  to  Uses. 

Xo  human  imagination  ever  has  been  or  is  ever 
likely  to  be  able  to  comprehend  the  enormity  of 
the  change  which  the  universal  adoption  of  this 
view  of  man's  responsibility  for  the  unselfish  use 
of  his  resources  and  opportunities  would  work. 
Such  a  result  of  course  we  can  never  hope  to 
realize  in  this  life;  but  that  every  one  may  so 
order  his  own  as  to  realize  it  in  the  life  beyond,  I 
do  most  unfeignedly  believe. 

There  is  one  aspect  of  Swedenborg's  doctrine 
of  Use — I  call  it  Swedenborg's,  for  it  is  his  in 
so  far  as  it  may  be  called  the  doctrine  of  any 

xiv 


INTRODUCTION 

son  of  man — which  invests  it  with  a  practical 
character  of  incalculable  importance.  It  is  but 
a  few  years  since  this  country  had  more  than  a 
million  of  men  under  arms,  the  largest  naval 
force  then  afloat  in  the  world,  and  was  spending 
at  the  rate  of  more  than  a  million  of  dollars  a 
day  in  a  sectional  war.  One  of  the  chief  excuses 
of  our  government  for  these  unprecedented  war 
expenditures  was  to  assert  and  defend  the  dig- 
nity of  labor  by  resisting  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  territory  where  it  had  no  constitutional  or 
prescriptive  sanction. 

It  was  a  great  and  noble  struggle ;  no  national 
struggle  involving  more  vital  issues  perhaps  was 
ever  fought.  These  issues  gave  dignity  to  the 
nation,  and,  I  believe,  success  to  its  arms.  But, 
after  all,  this  fearful  struggle,  important  as  it 
was,  at  best  only  aimed  to  prevent  the  degrada- 
tion of  white  labor  by  not  allowing  labor  of  any 
class  among  us  to  be  made  a  badge  of  servitude 
and  social  inferiority.  The  elevating  and  dignify- 
ing of  labor  among  the  white  population  was  only 
very  indirectly  and  incidentally,  if  at  all,  a  factor 
in  that  terrible  conflict.  We  still  find  among  our 
white  population  the  same  adherence  to  caste  dis- 

XV 


INTRODUCTION 

tinctions  as  aforetime;  the  same  persistence  in 
trying  to  appear  what  we  are  not,  and  to  do 
what  we  cannot;  the  same  ambitions  to  reach  so- 
cial, pohtical,  and  professional  positions  for 
which  we  are  scantilj^  equipped  rather  than  to 
content  ourselves  with  such  as  we  might  excel  in. 

It  is  painful  to  think  how  much  of  the  work 
done  in  this  world  is  done  from  necessity  ra- 
ther than  from  choice,  and  how  many  are  ready 
at  any  moment  to  exchange  positions  in  which 
they  are  most  capable  of  being  useful  for  others 
for  which  they  are  less  fit,  to  gratify  their  vanity, 
or  for  other  equally  unworthy  motives,  never 
realizing  that  in  every  Use  they  utter  the  prayer 
of  a  good  and  faithful  servant,  and  become  en- 
titled to  his  reward. 

It  has  been  wisely  said  that  Spiritual  Grace 
is  the  lovely  offspring  of  forgotten  toil.  When 
Aristotle  was  asked  what  advantage  he  had 
reaped  from  study,  he  replied,  "  That  of  doing 
from  choice  what  others  do  through  fear."  This 
apothegm  would  be  infinitely  wittier  and  wiser 
if  Use  were  substituted  for  Study, 

If  we  would  appropriate  the  lesson  given  to 
Peter,  we  would  call  no  useful  labor  common  or 

xvi 


INTRODUCTION 

unclean;  and  if  we  would  follow  the  example  of 
his  Master,  who  has  told  us, "  My  Father  worketh 
hitherto,  and  I  work,"  we  would  realize  that  there 
is  nothing  so  honorable,  or  so  productive  of  hap- 
piness, as  a  life  consecrated  to  Use.  Its  motive 
determines  the  value  of  all  work. 

And  here  it  may  be  well  to  recognize  an  im- 
portant distinction  between  the  two  largest 
classes  of  workmen  and  the  two  most  consid- 
erable kinds  of  their  respective  work.  The  first 
of  these  classes  consists  of  those  whose  interest 
in  the  efficient  and  successful  prosecution  of  their 
work  predominates  over  their  interest  in  the  re- 
muneration they  are  to  get  for  it.  The  other 
class  consists  of  those  who,  while  they  work,  are 
thinking  only  of  their  remuneration.  The  first 
are  always  trying  to  satisfy  their  ideals ;  they  are 
always  doing  their  work  as  well  as  they  can,  and 
therefore  are  constantly  progressing  and  per- 
fecting themselves  in  it, — growing  in  value  to 
their  employers  and  in  reputation  among  those 
of  their  calling.  To  them  the  Use  of  their  work 
is  their  inspiration,  and  as  a  necessary  result  they 
are  constantly  "advancing  in  favor  with  God 
and  man." 

xvii 


INTRODUCTION 

The  ideals  of  the  other  class  are  not  the  per- 
fection or  the  Uses  of  their  work,  but  its  pecuni- 
ary or  other  transient  returns.  They  are  there- 
fore under  a  constant  temptation  to  do  the  least 
that  is  necessary  for  their  purpose;  to  use  the 
cheapest  rather  than  the  best  materials— if  the 
best  is  more  expensive— that  their  gains  may  be 
the  greater,  and  are  thus  making  less,  if  any, 
effort  to  perfect  themselves  in  their  vocations. 

This  class,  unhappily  a  very  large  one— the 
Use  of  their  work  not  being  their  inspiration — as 
a  necessary  consequence  are  pretty  constantly 
declining  in  favor  with  God  and  man,  rarely 
dreaming  that  in  such  decline  they  are  obeying 
a  law  of  gravitation  downward,  inexorable  as  that 
which  keeps  the  planets  of  the  universe  in  their 
orbits. 

When  we  work  purely  for  ourselves  and  with 
no  thought  of  its  usefulness  to  others,  we  cannot 
expect  our  work  to  be  blessed  as  it  might  be  were 
we  animated  by  a  less  selfish  and  worldly  spirit. 
When  Jesus  at  the  shore  of  the  Lake  Gennesaret 
told  Simon  to  put  out  into  the  deep  and  let  down 
his  nets  for  a  draught,  Simon  replied,  "  Master, 
we  toiled  all  night,   and  took  nothing:  but  at 

xviii 


INTRODUCTION 

thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  nets/'  The  result 
was  that  their  nets  inclosed  such  a  multitude  of 
fishes  that  they  were  near  breaking,  so  that  their 
mates  in  the  other  boats  had  to  come  and  help 
them,  so  near  were  they  to  sinking  with  the  quan- 
tity of  fish  taken.  All  the  disciples  were  amazed, 
and  Simon  fell  down  at  the  knees  of  Jesus  and 
confessed,  probably  for  the  first  time  in  his  life, 
"  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  Jesus  reassured 
him.  "Fear  not,"  he  said;  "from  henceforth 
thou  shalt  catch  men." 

What  constituted  the  difference  between  the 
fruitless  toil  of  Simon  and  his  companions  during 
the  night,  and  their  toil  after  Jesus  came  into  the 
boat  with  them,  but  the  new  motive  from  which 
they  all  acted?  They  let  down  their  nets  at  his 
word— that  is,  under  an  unselfish  inspiration — 
and  they  no  longer  toiled  in  vain. 

The  discourse  which  they  had  been  hearing 
just  before  they  started  out  to  fish  had  brought 
Jesus  into  their  boat  with  them. 

The  fishes  for  which  they  had  toiled  all  night 
and  which  had  been  supplied  so  abundantly  in 
the  morning  proved  to  be,  like  all  the  cravings 
of  the  unregenerate  heart,  of  little  or  no  impor- 

xix 


INTRODUCTION 

tance  to  them;  for  "when  they  had  brought 
their  boats  to  land,  they  left  all,  and  followed 
him." 

Working  for  Jesus  had  developed  in  them 
tastes  which  neither  fishing  nor  fishes  could  sat- 
isfy. 

We  are  prone  to  ask.  Why  was  not  life  so  or- 
dered as  to  make  this  unremitting  toil  and  strug- 
gle unnecessary? 

It  is  not  ordered  so  because  it  is  precisely  the 
lessons  that  toil  and  struggle  teach  that  we  need. 
The  means  of  living  might  easily  have  been  given 
to  man  without  his  labor,  as  the  instinct  of  a 
squirrel  teaches  it  all  that  it  needs  to  know  about 
getting  its  living.  But  the  true  end  of  human 
life  lies  not  in  anything  which  is  produced  by  the 
work  of  it,  but  in  the  spontaneous  exercise  of  our 
ability  to  work.  By  such  work  is  the  spirit  nour- 
ished. The  Lord  disclosed  this  truth  when  he 
said,  "  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of. 
My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me, 
and  to  finish  his  work/'  So  our  meat,  that 
which  gives  the  fullest  satisfaction  of  life,  lies  in 
work.  Hence  so  many  who  would  not  of  them- 
selves realize  this  are  made  to  enter  into  its  bless- 

XX 


INTRODUCTION 

ings  by  the  necessity  under  which  they  are  provi- 
dentially placed  to  work  for  their  living,  or  by 
the  glitter  of  some  hoped-for  end  to  their  labor, 
whether  of  wealth  or  place  or  power.  The  end 
may  prove  unsatisfactory,  even  if  attained;  but 
whether  attained  or  not,  some  of  the  good  of 
work  is  realized  in  the  very  doing  of  it.  To  such 
a  one  there  is  a  sense  not  of  slavery  in  the  neces- 
sary toil  of  life,  but  of  freedom  in  the  privilege 
of  doing  it.  He  rejoices  even  in  the  utmost  stress 
of  his  labor,  "  as  a  strong  man  to  run  his  course." 
In  the  joy  of  labor  he  is  unconsciously  entering 
possibly  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord. 

Ruskin  illumines  what  I  have  been  trying 
to  say,  in  commenting  upon  the  impressions  he 
received  in  the  presence  of  Paul  Veronese's 
famous  picture  of  Solomon  and  the  Queen  of 
Sheba : 

The  gallery  windows  being  open,  there  came  in  with 
the  warm  air  floating  swells  and  falls  of  military  music, 
from  the  courtyard  before  the  Palace,  which  seemed  to 
be  more  devotional,  in  their  perfect  art,  time  and  disci- 
pline, than  anything  I  remember  of  evangelical  h^mms. 
And  as  the  perfect  color  and  sounds  gradually  asserted 
their  power  on  me,  they  seemed  finally  to  fasten  me  in 

xxi 


INTRODUCTION 

the  old  article  of  Jewish  faith,  that  things  done  delight- 
fully and  rightly  were  always  done  by  the  help  and  in 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

Thomas  Carlyle  said  of  his  father,  James 
Carlyle : 

Never,  of  all  the  men  I  have  seen,  has  one  come  per- 
sonally in  my  way  in  whom  the  endowment  from  nature 
and  the  arena  from  fortune  were  so  utterly  out  of  all 
proportion.  I  have  said  this  often  and  partly  know  it. 
As  a  man  of  speculation — had  culture  ever  unfolded 
him — he  must  have  gone  wild  and  desperate  as  Bums; 
but  he  was  a  man  of  conduct,  and  work  keeps  all  right. 
What  strange  shapeable  creatures  we  are !  ^ 

Never  be  idle  [said  Jeremy  Taylor],  but  fill  up  all 
the  spaces  of  thy  time  with  a  severe  and  useful  employ- 
ment ;  for  lust  easily  creeps  in  at  these  emptinesses  where 
the  soul  is  unemployed  and  the  body  is  at  ease;  for  no 
easy,  healthful,  idle  person  was  ever  chaste  if  he  could 
be  tempted;  but  of  all  employments,  bodily  labor  is  the 
most  useful  and  of  the  greatest  benefit  for  driving  away 
the  devil. 

It  was  a  custom  of  the  Jews  that  all  boys 
should  learn  a  trade.    Rabbi  Judah  saith:  "He 

1  Reminiscences  of  Carlyle,  Vol.  I,  p.  19. 
xxii 


INTRODUCTION 

that  teacheth  not  his  son  a  trade  doth  the  same 
as  if  he  taught  him  to  be  a  thief."  Rabbi  Gama- 
liel saith:  "  He  that  hath  a  trade  is  like  a  vine- 
yard that  is  fenced." 

It  has  also  been  the  habit  of  the  present  im- 
perial dynasty  of  Germany  to  require  their  male 
offspring  at  least  to  master  some  wage-earning 
profession  as  an  essential  part  of  their  education. 

Adam  Smith  has  given  a  breadth  to  the  Doc- 
trine of  Use  which  comprehends  the  order,  duty, 
and  prosperity  of  nations  as  well  as  of  indi- 
viduals. 

It  deserves  to  be  remarked  [he  says]  that  it  is  perhaps 
in  the  progressive  state,  while  society  is  advancing  to 
the  further  acquisition,  rather  than  when  it  has  ac- 
quired its  full  complement  of  riches,  that  the  condition 
of  the  laboring  poor  of  the  great  body  of  the  people 
seems  to  be  the  happiest  and  the  most  comfortable  one. 
It  is  hard  in  the  stationary,  and  miserable  in  the  decHn- 
ing,  state.  This  progressive  state  is  in  reality  the  cheer- 
ful and  the  hearty  state  to  all  the  different  orders  of  the 
society.  The  stationary  is  dull,  the  declining  melan- 
choly. 

The  Golden  Sentences  here  selected  from  the 
writings  of  the  famous  Swedish  philosopher  have 

xxiii 


INTRODUCTION 

a  searching  and  inquisitorial  character  which 
seems  to  bear  a  special  message  to  the  Christian 
nations  of  this  generation. 

Who  can  read  and  meditate  them  without 
pausing  to  inquire  whether  the  habits  of  life 
prevailing  in  modern  society  are  as  useful  as 
they  might  be ;  whether  any  and  how  much  of  its 
energy,  instead  of  being  utilized,  is  not  running 
to  waste ;  and  whether  that  waste  does  not  involve 
a  loss  not  only  of  material  but  of  spiritual  values 
that  can  never  be  recovered? 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  pride  and  plea- 
sure an  expert  in  any  department  of  useful  in- 
dustry has  in  his  work,  and  how  in  his  desire  to 
make  it  as  perfect  as  possible  he  loses  sight  en- 
tirely of  any  other — especially  of  any  meaner — 
motive.  His  heart  is  literally  in  his  work.  This 
is  as  true  of  a  man  who  is  guiding  a  plough  as  of 
the  man  who  is  thundering  in  the  Senate.  When 
thus  employed,  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  most 
exalted  artisan  is  thinking  no  evil.  It  is  the  class 
of  people  who  do  most  skillfully  whatever  useful 
work  they  find  themselves  best  qualified  for,  no 
matter  what  its  social  grade,  that  are  not  only 
the  most  contented,  the  best  husbands,  wives,  and 

xxiv 


INTRODUCTION 

parents,  but  also  in  emergencies  the  most  firm  and 
reliable,  of  any  class  in  any  nation.  No  one  can 
thoughtfully  read  the  history  of  our  Republic 
and  need  farther  proof  of  this  statement.  And 
one,  if  not  the  chief,  reason  of  this  is  that  their 
minds  are  pretty  constantly  and  earnestly  em- 
ployed in  work  that  commends  itself  by  its  use- 
fulness to  them,  their  families,  and  their  neigh- 
bors. 

I  confidently  refer  any  of  whatever  social  class 
who  doubt  either  of  these  statements  to  the  les- 
sons presented  in  the  following  pages.  They 
were  never  so  adequately  or  impressively  ex- 
pounded as  in  the  several  writings  from  which 
the  following  are  but  extracts.  I  can  conceive 
of  no  person  reading  them  without  a  new  sense 
of  responsibility  for  what  he  may  be  doing  or 
leaving  undone,  or  without  experiencing  a  more 
perfect  consciousness  that  he  is  either  drawing 
nearer  to  or  receding  from  the  Divine  Presence, 
as  he  appropriates  or  neglects  their  teachings. 


XXV 


THE 
USEFUL   LIFE 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Use  the  End  of  Creation 3 

The  Three  Loves  of  Man 5 

How  these  Three  Loves  Perfect  or  Pervert  Man  ...  6 

Spiritual  Life  Consists  in  Uses 8 

Use  is  the  End  of  Most  Interior  Delights 8 

Use  Prior  to  Form 9 

Man  was  Created  for  Use 9 

Love  of  Gold  and  Silver  for  Use  elevates 10 

Love  intends  Use  and  produces  it  by  Wisdom  .     ...  10 
Love  of  Self  and  the  World  are  Evils^,  only  to  be  re- 
moved by  conversion  into  a  Love  of  Use     ....  12 
There  is  a  certain  Image  of  Man  in  all  forms  of  Uses  .  13 

There  is  a  certain  Image  of  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  all 

forms  of  Uses 13 

Uses  the  Mediate  Ends  for  which  the  Universe  was 

Created 14 

Good  is  Use 17 

Evil  Uses  were  not  created  by  the  Lord,  but  are  from 

Hell 18 

What  is  meant  by  Evil  Uses  on  Earth 19 

All  Things  that  are  Evil  Uses  are  in  Hell,  and  all  that 

are  Good  Uses  in  Heaven 19 

Conjugial  Love  the  Complex  of  all  Loves 21 

xxix 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Lord's  Kingdom  is  nothing  else  than  the  Kingdom 

of  Ends  and  Uses 22 

A  Life  of  Pleasure  contrasted  with  a  Life  of  Use  .     .  22 

To  know  your  motives  of  Action  study  your  Delights     .  23 

Activity,  not  Idleness,  blesses 23 

The  principal  cause  and  the  instrumental  cause  act  as 

one 23 

All  the  ends  of  Creation  are  Uses 24 

All  Uses  are  Works  and  the  Delight  of  the  Angels    .     .  25 

No  Person  nor  thing  that  does  not  perform  Uses  .  .  26 
In  Heaven  every  Delight  is  of  Use  and  according  to 

Use 26 

Infernal  Spirits  have  to  perform  Uses 27 

Angelic  Happiness  is  in  Use,  from  Use,  for  Use  ...  28 

Heavenly  Love  and  Self-Love  contrasted 29 

Joys  of  Heaven  from  conjunction  of  Love  and  Wisdom  30 

Eternal  Rest  not  Idleness 30 

What  is  Heavenly  Joy  .'* 31 

Use  Qualifies  Truth 31 

Man  a  Form  of  all  Uses 33 

The  Good  of  a  Man's  Love  Chooses  the  Truths  of  his 

Faith 34 

The  Use  determines  the  Quality  of  the  Affection  ...  35 
Why  Food  in  a  spiritual  sense  is  every  thing  that  is  of 

Use 35 

A  Person  is  of  Honour  from  his  Use 37 

Such  as  the  Use  is,  such  is  the  Good 37 

Scientifics  and  Knowledges  are  of  no  avail  except  for 

Use 37 

Work  Must  be  Use 40 

XXX 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Uses  the  Bonds  of  Human  Society  and  the  Delights  of 

Heaven 40 

Love  and  Wisdom  only  exist  in  Use 42 

Angels  are  forms  of  their  Use 42 

Use  rules  in  Forms 44 

Love^  Wisdom^  and  Use  cannot  be  separated  ....  44 

All  Causes  Spiritual 45 

Celestial  things  of  Good,  Spiritual  Things  of  Truth     .  45 

Love  and  Wisdom  without  Use 46 

Serving  the  Lord  is  performing  Uses 47 

Use  is  Recompense 47 

The  Use  of  Wealth  and  Honours 48 

Offices  and  Honours  in  Heaven 49 

Why  the  Wicked  are  advanced  to  Honours  and  Wealth  51 

Why  some  Rich  are  in  Hell 52 

Uses  are  subordinated  according  to  Divine  Order      .     .  53 
Dignities  subservient  to  Uses,  not  Uses  to  Dignities  .  53 
Rulers  who  perform  Uses  without  Love  to  the  Neigh- 
bour       54 

The  Love  of  Dignities  and  Honours  for  Self  and  for 

Use 55 

The  Delight  of  being  Useful 59 

Paradisiacal  Delights 59 

Heavenly  Joys  from  State,  not  Place 60 

The  Delights  of  the  Bodily  Senses 62 

The  Proper  and  Improper  Use  of  Dignities  .     ...  63 

No  Life  in  what  is  Useless 64 

Love  of  our  Neighbour  has  a  Celestial  Origin  ....  64 

To  perform  Use  is  to  will  well  to  others 65 

Natural  and  Spiritual  Love  contrasted 66 


XXXI 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


The  Kingdom  of  the  Lord  a  Kingdom  of  Uses  and 

Ends 67 

Acting  Justly  and  Faithfully  is  Charity  and  Use    .     .  68 

How  the  Internal  and  External  Man  are  conjoined  .     .  69 

The  Uses  and  Abuses  of  Knowledge 70 

Natural  Light  not  originating  in  Pride 71 


xxxu 


THE 
USEFUL   LIFE 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


USE    THE    END    OF    CREATION 

The  unity  of  God  may  be  inferred  from  the  creation 
of  the  universe,  since  the  universe  being  a  coherent  and 
uniform  work,  from  first  to  last,  depends  upon  God, 
as  the  body  depends  upon  the  soul.  The  universe  is 
so  created,  that  God  may  be  everywhere  present  therein, 
and  keep  the  whole,  with  all  its  parts,  under  his  gov- 
ernment and  observation,  and  may  thus  maintain  it  in 
perpetual  unity,  which  is  to  preserve  it.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  Jehovah  God  declares  that  he  is  "  the  First 
and  the  Last,  the  Beginning  and  the  End,  the  Alpha 
and  the  Omega"  (Isaiah  xliv.  6;  Rev.  i.  8,  17);  and 
in  another  place,  "  I  am  the  Lord  that  maketh  all  things  ; 
that  stretcheth  forth  the  heavens  alone;  that  spreadeth 
abroad  the  earth  by  myself  "  ( Isaiah  xliv.  24 ) .  This 
great  system,  which  we  call  the  universe,  is  a  coherent 
and  uniform  work,  from  first  to  last,  by  reason  that 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

God  intended  but  this  one  end  in  its  creation, — to  form 
an  angelic  heaven  from  the  human  race;  and  all  things 
whereof  the  world  consists  are  means  to  promote  this 
end;  for  the  desire  of  any  end  implies  also  a  desire  of 
the  means  requisite  for  its  promotion.  If,  therefore, 
we  regard  the  world  as  a  work  containing  means  adapted 
to  such  an  end,  we  may  also  regard  the  universe  of  crea- 
tion as  a  coherent  and  uniform  work,  and  may  perceive 
that  it  is  a  complex  of  Uses,  in  successive  order,  for  the 
service  of  the  human  race,  out  of  which  is  formed  the 
angelic  heaven.  For  the  divine  love  cannot  design  any 
other  end  than  the  eternal  happiness  of  men,  by  a  com- 
munication of  itself ;  and  the  divine  wisdom  cannot  pro- 
duce any  thing  but  Uses,  as  means  for  the  promotion 
of  that  end.  By  contemplating  the  world,  according 
to  this  enlarged  and  universal  idea,  every  wise  man  may 
discern  that  the  Creator  of  the  universe  is  one,  and  that 
his  essence  is  love  and  wisdom;  of  consequence,  there 
is  not  a  single  thing  existing  in  the  world  but  that  con- 
tains some  hidden  Use  more  or  less  remote,  for  the  ser- 
vice of  man.  While  people  consider  only  particular 
parts  of  the  creation  and  do  not  take  a  view  of  the 
whole  in  its  connected  series  as  consisting  of  ends,  me- 
diate causes,  and  effects;  or  while  they  do  not  refer 
creation  to  its  true  source,  as  an  effect  derived  from 
the  divine  love,  by  means  of  the  divine  wisdom,  it  is 
impossible  they  should  see  that  the  universe  is  the  work- 
manship of  one  God,  and  that  he  has  his  abode  in  the 
Uses  of  every  particular  thing,  being  the  end  for  which 
it  was  created.  For  whatever  is  in  the  end  is  also  in  the 
means  conducive  thereto,  inasmuch  as  the  end  itself  is 
in  all  the  means,  acting  in  them,  and  producing  its  own 

4 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

ultimate  purposes.  While  men  consider  the  universe, 
not  as  the  workmanship  of  God,  and  the  habitation  of 
his  love  and  wisdom,  but  as  the  workmanship  of  nature, 
and  the  habitation  of  the  sun's  light  and  heat  alone, 
they  close  up  the  superior  parts  of  their  minds  against 
the  admission  of  God,  and  open  the  inferior  parts  thereof 
for  the  admission  of  Satan,  whereby  they  divest  them- 
selves of  the  nature  of  men,  and  acquire  the  nature  of 
beasts,  not  only  believing,  but  actually  making,  them- 
selves like  unto  them ;  for  they  become  foxes  in  cunning, 
wolves  in  fierceness,  leopards  in  treachery,  tigers  in 
cruelty,  and  crocodiles,  serpents,  owls,  and  bats,  as  to 
the  respective  natures  of  those  animals.  In  the  spiritual 
world  such  persons  appear  also,  at  a  distance,  in  the 
proper  shapes  of  such  beasts  as  they  represent  in  dis- 
position; for  it  is  their  love  of  evil  which  thus  repre- 
sents itself.     T.  13. 


THE    THREE    LOVES    OF    MAN 

There  are  three  universal  loves,  the  love  of  heaven, 
the  love  of  the  world,  and  the  love  of  self.  By  the  love 
of  heaven  is  meant  love  to  the  Lord  and  also  love  toward 
the  neighbour;  and  because  each  of  these  regards  L^se 
as  the  end,  they  may  be  called  the  love  of  Uses.  The 
love  of  the  world  is  not  merely  the  love  of  wealth  and 
property,  but  also  of  all  that  the  world  affords,  and  of 
all  that  delights  the  senses  of  the  body;  as  beauty  de- 
lights the  eye,  harmony  the  ear,  fragrance  the  nostrils, 
delicacies  the  tongue,  softness  the  skin;  also  becoming 
dress,  convenient  habitations,  society,  thus  all  the  en- 
joyments  coming   from  these  and   many   other   things. 

5 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

The  love  of  self  is  not  merely  the  love  of  honour,  glory, 
fame,  and  eminence,  but  also  the  love  of  meriting  and 
soliciting  office,  and  so  of  reigning  over  others.  Charity 
has  something  in  common  with  each  of  these  three  loves, 
because,  viewed  in  itself,  it  is  the  love  of  Uses;  for 
charity  wishes  to  do  good  to  the  neighbour  (and  good  is 
the  same  as  Use),  and  from  these  loves  every  one  re- 
gards Uses  as  his  ends ;  the  love  of  heaven  regards  spiri- 
tual Uses;  the  love  of  the  world  natural  Uses,  which 
may  be  called  civil,  and  the  love  of  self  corporeal  Uses, 
which  may  be  called  domestic,  done  for  one's  self  and  his 
own.     T.  394. 

HOW  THESE  THREE  LOVES  PERFECT  OR  PERVERT  MAN 

These  three  loves,  when  rightly  subordinated,  per- 
fect man;  but  when  they  are  not  rightly  subordinated, 
they  pervert  and  invest  him.  .  .  .  These  three  loves, 
in  relation  to  each  other,  are  like  the  three  regions  of 
the  body,  the  highest  of  which  is  the  head,  the  middle 
is  the  chest,  with  the  abdomen,  while  the  knees,  the  feet, 
and  their  soles  make  the  third.  When  the  love  of 
heaven  makes  the  head,  the  love  of  the  world  the  chest 
and  the  abdomen,  and  the  love  of  self  the  feet  with  their 
soles,  then  man  is  in  a  perfect  state  according  to  crea- 
tion ;  because  the  two  lower  loves  then  subserve  the  high- 
est, as  the  body  and  all  its  parts  subserve  the  head. 
When,  therefore,  the  love  of  heaven  makes  the  head, 
it  flows  into  the  love  of  the  world  which  chiefly  is  the 
love  of  riches,  and  by  means  of  these  it  performs  Uses; 
and  through  this  love  it  flows  mediately  into  the  love 
of  self,  which  is  chiefly  a  love  of  dignities,  and  it  per- 

6 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

forms  Uses  by  means  of  these.  Thus  those  three  loves 
breathe  out  Uses  from  the  influx  of  one  into  another. 
Who  does  not  comprehend  that  when  a  man  wishes  to 
perform  Uses  from  spiritual  love  (which  is  from  the 
Lord  and  is  what  is  meant  by  the  love  of  heaven),  his 
natural  man  performs  them  by  means  of  his  riches  and 
his  other  goods,  and  his  sensual  man  in  his  own  function, 
and  that  it  is  his  honour  to  produce  them?  Who  also 
does  not  comprehend  that  all  the  works  which  a  man 
does  with  the  body  are  done  according  to  the  state  of 
his  mind  in  his  head,  and  that  if  the  mind  is  in  the  love 
of  Uses,  the  body  by  means  of  its  members  effects  them  ? 
.  .  .  No  man  of  sound  reason  can  condemn  riches,  for 
they  are  in  the  general  body  like  the  blood  in  a  man; 
nor  can  he  condemn  the  honours  attached  to  office,  for 
they  are  the  hands  of  a  king  and  the  pillars  of  society, 
provided  the  natural  and  sensual  loves  of  them  are  sub- 
ordinated to  spiritual  love.     T.  403. 

But  a  man  puts  on  an  entirely  different  state  if  the 
love  of  the  world  or  of  riches  makes  the  head,  that  is, 
if  it  is  the  reigning  love;  for  then  the  love  of  heaven 
is  exiled  from  the  head  and  betakes  itself  to  the  body. 
.  .  .  But  the  love  of  the  world  is  in  much  variety,  worse 
as  it  verges  toward  avarice;  in  this  the  love  of  heaven 
grows  black;  so,  too,  if  it  verges  toward  pride  and 
eminence  over  others  from  the  love  of  self.  It  is  differ- 
ent if  it  tends  to  prodigality;  it  is  less  hurtful  if  it 
has  in  view  as  an  end  the  splendours  of  the  world,  as 
palaces,  decorations,  magnificent  clothing,  servants, 
horses  and  chariots,  with  pompous  display,  and  so  on. 
The  quality  of  any  love  is  predicated  according  to  the 
end  which  it  regards  and  intends.     T.  404. 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

There  is  a  love  of  ruling  that  comes  from  the  love 
of  the  neighbour,  and  there  is  a  love  of  ruling  from  the 
love  of  self.  They  who  are  in  the  love  of  ruling  from 
the  love  of  the  neighbour,  seek  dominion  to  the  end  that 
they  may  perform  Uses  to  the  public  and  to  private 
individuals;  and  to  them,  therefore,  is  also  entrusted 
dominion  in  the  heavens.  Emperors,  kings,  and  dukes, 
born  and  educated  for  positions  of  authority,  if  they 
humble  themselves  before  God  are  sometimes  less  in  that 
love  than  they  who  are  of  low  origin,  but  from  pride 
seek  for  places  of  pre-eminence.     T.  405. 


SPIRITUAL    LIFE    CONSISTS    IN    USES 

Gen.  xlvii.  13-16.  Spiritual  life  consists  in  exercises 
according  to  truths,  consequently  in  Uses;  for  they 
who  are  in  spiritual  life  desire  and  seek  after  truths 
w^ith  a  view  to  life,  that  is,  that  they  may  live  ac- 
cording to  them,  and  thus  with  a  view  to  Uses ;  as 
far  therefore  as  they  can  imbibe  truths,  according  to 
which  they  are  to  effect  Uses,  so  far  are  they  in  spiritual 
life,  because  they  are  so  far  in  the  light  of  intelligence 
and  wisdom.    A.  C.  6119. 


USE   IS   THE   END    OF   MOST   INTERIOR    DELIGHTS 

Gen.  IX.  3.  There  is  no  pleasure  existing  in  the  body 
which  does  not  exist  and  subsist  from  some  interior  af- 
fection; and  there  is  no  interior  affection  which  does  not 
exist  and  subsist  from  one  still  more  interior,  in  which  is 
its  Use  and  end.     Man,  during  his  life  in  the  body,  is 

8 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

insensible  to  these  interior  delights  which  flow  in  order 
from  what  is  inmost,  many  scarcely  knowing  that  they 
exist,  much  less  that  all  pleasure  is  thence  derived.  The 
soul  is  in  the  Uses  and  ends,  but  the  body  executes  such 
Uses  and  ends.  In  like  manner,  all  effects  whatsoever 
are  representative  of  the  Uses  which  are  their  causes: 
and  the  Uses  are  representative  of  the  ends  which  are 
their  first  principles.     A.  C.  994. 

USE    PRIOR    TO    FORM 

Gen.  38.  It  appears  as  if  the  members  and  organs 
of  the  human  body  are  before,  and  that  their  Uses  are 
after,  for  they  are  first  presented  to  the  eye,  and  are 
also  known  before  the  Uses ;  nevertheless,  the  Use  is 
prior  to  the  members  and  organs,  since  these  latter 
are  from  Uses,  and  thus  formed  according  to  Uses ;  yea, 
Use  itself  forms  and  adapts  them  to  itself:  unless  this 
was  the  case,  all  and  each  of  the  things  in  man  would 
never  conspire  so  unanimously  to  one.  The  case  is 
similar  with  good  and  truth;  it  appears  as  if  truth  was 
prior,  whereas  good  is  prior,  being  that  which  forms 
truths,  and  adapts  them  to  itself;  wherefore,  truths 
considered  in  themselves  are  only  goods  formed,  or  forms 
of  good ;  truths  also  in  respect  to  good  are  as  the  viscera 
and  fibres  in  the  body  in  respect  to  Uses,  good  also 
viewed  in  itself  is  nothing  but  Use.    A.  C.  4936. 

MAN    WAS    CREATED    FOR    USE 

Gen.  xlv.  19.  Man  ought  to  have  a  regard  for  his 
body,  to  nourish  it,  to  clothe  it,  to  let  it  enjoy  the  de- 

9 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

lights  of  the  world ;  but  all  this,  not  for  the  sake  of  the 
body,  but  of  the  soul,  in  order  that  the  soul,  in  a  sound 
body,  may  act  correspondently  and  rightly,  and  may 
use  the  body  as  an  organ  altogether  obsequious  to  it. 
Thus  the  soul  should  be  the  end ;  but  man  should  regard 
even  the  soul  itself  only  as  a  mediate  end,  not  for  its 
own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  Uses  it  has  to  perform 
in  each  world;  and  when  man  regards  Uses  as  an  end, 
he  regards  the  Lord  as  an  end,  for  the  Lord  arranges 
both  things  for  Uses,  and  uses  them.     A.  C.  5949. 

LOVE    OF    GOLD    AND    SILVER    FOR    USE    ELEVATES 

Gen.  XXXIV.  13.  They  who  love  lucre  and  gain,  for 
no  other  Use  than  for  the  mere  sake  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  place  all  the  delight  of  their  lives  in  the  possession 
thereof,  are  in  the  outermost  or  lowest  things,  for  the 
things  which  they  love  are  altogether  earthly;  but  they 
who  love  gold  and  silver  for  the  sake  of  some  Use,  ele- 
vate themselves  out  of  earthly  things  according  to  this 
Use.  The  Use  itself  which  man  loves,  determines  his 
life,  and  distinguishes  him  from  others;  an  evil  Use 
makes  him  infernal,  a  good  Use  makes  him  celestial: 
not  indeed  the  Use  of  itself,  but  the  love  of  the  Use, 
for  the  life  of  every  one  is  in  his  love.     A.  C.  4459. 

LOVE    INTENDS    USE    AND    PRODUCES    IT     BY    WISDOM 

God  before  creation  was  Love  itself  and  Wisdom  it- 
self, in  their  respective  tendencies  to  effect  Uses ;  for 
love  and  wisdom  without  Use,  are  merely  volatile  exis- 
tences in  the  mind,  which  do  really  take  wing  and  fly 

10 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

away,  unless  they  be  firmly  fixed  in  Uses;  and  in  that 
case  they  may  be  compared  with  birds  which  take  their 
flight  over  an  extensive  ocean,  but  at  last  fall  down 
through  fatigue,  and  perish  in  the  waters.  Hence  it 
appears  that  the  universe  was  created  by  God  for  the 
existence  of  Uses,  on  which  account  it  may  with  pro- 
priety be  called  a  theatre  of  Uses ;  and  since  man  is  the 
principal  end  of  creation,  it  follows  of  consequence  that 
all  and  every  thing  was  created  for  his  sake,  and  there- 
fore that  all  the  properties  of  order,  both  in  general 
and  in  particular,  were  collected  into  him,  and  concen- 
trated in  him,  to  the  intent  that  God  by  him  might 
effect  primary  Uses.  Love  and  wisdom,  without  their 
attendant.  Use,  may  be  likened  to  the  sun's  heat  and 
light,  which,  unless  they  operated  upon  men,  animals, 
and  vegetables,  would  be  futile,  but  which  become  real  by 
such  influx  and  operation.  There  are  three  things  which 
follow  each  other  in  order — end,  cause,  and  eff*ect;  and 
it  is  well  known  in  the  learned  world  that  the  end  is 
nothing  unless  it  regard  the  efficient  cause ;  and  that  the 
end,  together  with  this  cause,  are  nothing,  unless  they 
produce  the  eff"ect.  The  end  and  the  cause  may  indeed 
be  abstractedly  contemplated  in  the  mind;  but  still  it 
should  be  with  a  view  to  producing  some  eff^ect,  which 
the  end  intends,  and  the  cause  promotes.  The  case  is 
similar  with  regard  to  love,  wisdom,  and  Use:  it  is  Use 
which  love  intends  and  produces  by  wisdom;  and  when 
Use  is  produced,  love  and  wisdom  acquire  a  real  exis- 
tence, and  in  this  make  for  themselves  a  habitation  and 
a  seat,  where  they  may  be  at  rest  as  in  their  own  house. 
So  also  it  is  with  man,  in  whom  the  love  and  wisdom 
of  God  abide,  while  he  is  promoting  Uses;  and  for  the 

11 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

sake  of  promoting  divine  Uses  he  was  created  an  image 
and  likeness,  that  is,  a  form  of  divine  order.     T.  67. 

LOVE  OF  SEI.F  AND  THE  WORLD  ARE  EVILS,  ONLY 

TO    BE   REMOVED   BY   CONVERSION   INTO 

A    LOVE    OF    rSE 

If  good  with  its  truth  were  infused  before,  or  in  a  greater 
degree  than  evil  and  its  falsity  are  removed,  the  man 
would  recede  from  good  and  return  to  his  evil,  because 
evil  would  prevail;  and  that  which  prevails,  conquers. 
While  evil  continues  to  prevail,  good  cannot  be  intro- 
duced into  the  inmost  of  the  mind,  because  evil  and 
good  cannot  exist  together ;  and  that  which  is  only  in  the 
outer  courts  is  removed  by  its  enemy  which  is  in  the 
inner  apartments,  whereby  there  is  a  recession  from 
good  and  a  return  to  evil,  which  is  the  worst  kind  of 
profanation.  Besides,  the  very  delight  of  a  man's  life 
is  to  love  himself  and  the  world  above  all  things;  and 
this  delight  cannot  be  removed  in  a  moment,  but  must 
be  done  successively.  According  to  the  proportion  of 
this  delight  which  remains  in  a  man  is  the  prevalence 
of  evil;  and  this  evil  can  be  removed  no  otherwise  than 
by  making  the  love  of  self  to  become  the  love  of  Uses, 
and  admitting  the  love  of  rule,  not  for  the  sake  of  self, 
but  for  the  sake  of  being  useful;  for  so  Uses  constitute 
the  head,  the  love  of  self  or  the  love  of  rule  at  first 
constituting  the  body  under  that  head,  and  afterward 
the  feet  upon  which  he  walks.  .  .  .  For  this  reason  good 
cannot  be  introduced  by  the  Lord  before  or  in  a  greater 
degree  than  that  in  which  evil  is  removed ;  and  if  it  were 

1% 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

Infused  sooner,  or  in  greater  quantity,  the  man  would 
recede  from  good  and  return  to  his  evil.     D.  P.  233. 


THERE    IS    A    CERTAIN    IMAGE    OF    MAN    IN    ALL 
FORMS    OF    USES 

All  Uses  from  primaries  to  ultimates,  and  from  ul- 
timates  to  primaries,  have  relation  to  all  things  of  man, 
and  correspondence  with  them,  and  therefore  a  man  is 
in  a  certain  image  a  universe,  and  vice  versa.  The 
universe,  viewed  as  to  Use,  is  in  image  a  man,  as  will 
be  seen  in  the  following  article. 


THERE    IS    A    CERTAIN    IMAGE    OF    INFINITE    AND    ETERNAL 
IN    ALL    FORMS    OF    USES 

The  image  of  infinite  in  these  forms  appears  from  an 
endeavor  and  power  of  filling  the  spaces  of  the  whole 
world,  and  of  many  worlds,  ad  infinitum:  for  one  seed 
produces  a  tree,  shrub,  or  plant,  that  fills  its  space; 
each  tree,  shrub,  or  plant,  produces  seeds,  some,  several 
thousands,  which,  being  sown  and  growing,  fill  their 
spaces;  and  if  each  seed  of  theirs  were  to  have  so  many 
new  productions  again  and  again,  in  the  course  of  years 
the  whole  world  would  be  filled ;  and  if  their  productions 
were  still  to  be  continued,  many  worlds  would  be  filled; 
and  this  ad  infinitum:  compute  a  thousand  from  one 
seed,  and  multiply  thousands  into  tens  of  thousands, 
twenties  of  thousands,  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 
you  will  see.     The  image  of  eternal  is  also  similar  in 

13 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

these  forms,  seeds  being  propagated  from  year  to  year, 
and  their  propagations  never  ceasing:  they  have  not 
ceased  hitherto  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  nor  will 
they  cease  to  eternity.  These  two  are  manifest  proofs 
and  signs  that  all  things  in  the  universe  were  created 
by  an  infinite  and  eternal  God.  Besides  these  images 
of  infinite  and  eternal,  there  is  moreover  an  image  of 
infinite  and  eternal  in  varieties,  in  that  there  can  never 
exist  a  substance,  state,  or  thing  in  the  created  universe, 
the  same  with  another;  neither  in  the  atmospheres,  nor 
in  the  earths,  nor  in  the  forms  produced  from  them; 
consequently  in  none  of  the  things  which  fill  the  universe, 
can  any  thing  the  same  as  another  be  produced  to  eter- 
nity: this  is  manifest  in  the  variety  of  men's  faces,  no 
two  are  the  same  in  the  whole  world,  or  can  be  to  all 
eternity ;  consequently  no  two  minds  are  the  same,  the 
face  being  the  type  of  the  mind. 

USES  THE  MEDIATE  ENDS  FOR  WHICH  THE  UNIVERSE 
WAS    CREATED 

The  end  of  the  creation  of  the  universe  is,  that  the 
angelic  heaven  may  exist;  and  as  the  angelic  heaven  is 
the  end,  so  also  is  man,  or  the  human  race,  because 
heaven  consists  of  the  human  race.  Hence  all  things 
wliich  are  created  are  mediate  ends,  and  Uses  in  the 
order,  degree,  and  respect,  in  which  they  have  relation 
to  man,  and  by  man  to  the  Lord. 

Since  the  end  of  creation  is  the  angelic  heaven  from 
the  human  race,  consequentl}^  the  human  race  itself, 
therefore  all  other  created  things  are  mediate  ends; 
which,  as  they  have  relation  to  man,  respect  these  three 

14 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

things,  his  body,  his  rational  principle,  and  his  spiritual 
principle,  for  the  sake  of  conjunction  with  the  Lord. 
A  man  cannot  be  conjoined  to  the  Lord  unless  he  be 
spiritual;  nor  can  he  be  spiritual  unless  he  be  rational: 
nor  rational  unless  his  body  be  in  a  sound  state:  these 
things  are  like  a  house,  the  body  is  like  the  foundation, 
the  rational  principle  is  like  the  superstructure,  the 
spiritual  principle  like  the  things  in  the  house,  and 
conjunction  with  the  Lord  is  like  inhabitation.  Hence 
it  is  evident  in  what  order,  degree,  and  respect  Uses, 
which  are  the  mediate  ends  of  creation,  have  relation 
to  man,  namely,  for  sustaining  his  body,  perfecting  his 
rational  principle,  and  receiving  a  spiritual  principle 
from  the  Lord. 

Uses  for  sustaining  the  body,  respect  its  nourishment, 
clothing,  habitation,  recreation  and  delight,  protection, 
and  preservation  of  state.  Uses  created  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  body  are  all  things  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom which  are  for  meat  and  drink,  as  fruits,  berries, 
seeds,  pulse,  and  herbs ;  and  all  things  of  the  animal 
kingdom  which  are  eaten,  as  oxen,  cows,  calves,  deer, 
sheep,  kids,  goats,  lambs,  and  their  milk;  also  fowls 
and  fishes  of  many  kinds.  Uses  created  for  the  clothing 
of  the  body  are  also  many  things  from  these  two  king- 
doms ;  in  like  manner  Uses  for  habitation,  and  for  rec- 
reation, delight,  protection,  and  preservation  of  state, 
which  are  not  enumerated  because  they  are  known,  and 
therefore  the  recital  of  them  would  be  mere  waste  of 
paper.  There  are  indeed  many  things  which  are  not 
used  by  man;  but  superfluity  does  not  take  away  Use, 
but  causes  Uses  to  endure.  There  is  also  such  a  thing 
as  abuse  of  Uses ;  but  abuse  does  not  take  away  Use, 

15 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

as  the  falsification  of  truth  does  not  take  away  truth, 
except  only  in  those  who  are  guilty  of  it. 

Uses  for  perfecting  the  rational  'principle  are  all 
things  that  teach  those  things  now  spoken  of,  and  are 
called  sciences  and  pursuits,  which  have  relation  to  nat- 
ural, economic,  civil,  and  moral  things,  which  are  im- 
bibed either  from  parents  or  masters,  or  from  books, 
or  from  communication  with  others,  or  by  reflection 
on  what  is  thus  imbibed.  These  perfect  the  rational 
principle  in  proportion  as  they  are  in  a  superior  de- 
gree of  Use,  and  they  remain  in  proportion  as  they 
are  applied  to  life.  It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate 
these  Uses,  on  account  both  of  their  abundance,  and  of 
their  various  respect  to  the  common  good. 

Uses  for  receiving  a  spiritual  principle  from  the 
Lord,  are  all  things  that  belong  to  religion  and  thence 
to  worship,  consequently  that  teach  the  acknowledgment 
and  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  knowledge  and  acknow- 
ledgment of  good  and  truth,  and  thereby  eternal  life; 
which,  in  like  manner  as  other  learning,  are  imbibed 
from  parents,  masters,  preaching,  and  books,  and  es- 
pecially by  manner  of  life  in  conformity  thereto;  in 
the  Christian  world  by  doctrines  and  preaching  from 
the  Word,  and  by  the  Word  from  the  Lord.  These 
Uses  in  their  extent  may  be  described  by  things  similar 
to  those  that  describe  bodily  Uses,  as  nourishment, 
clothing,  habitation,  recreation  and  delight,  protection, 
and  preservation  of  state,  only  making  the  application 
to  the  soul;  nourishment  to  the  goods  of  love,  clothing 
to  the  truths  of  wisdom,  habitation  to  heaven,  recreation 
and  delight  to  felicity  of  life  and  heavenly  joy,  protec- 
tion  to   infesting   evils,   and   preservation   of   state   to 

16 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

eternal  life.  All  these  are  given  by  the  Lord,  accord- 
ing to  the  acknowledgment  that  all  things  of  the  body 
are  also  from  the  Lord,  and  that  a  man  is  but  a  serv^ant 
and  steward  appointed  over  the  goods  of  his  Lord. 

GOOD    IS    USE 

Although  it  is  said  that  they  are  Uses,  because  through 
man  they  have  relation  to  the  Lord,  still  it  cannot  be 
said  that  they  are  Uses  from  man  for  the  Lord's  sake, 
but  from  the  Lord  for  man's  sake ;  because  all  Uses  are 
infinitely  one  in  the  Lord,  and  none  in  man  except  from 
the  Lord;  a  man  cannot  do  good  from  himself,  but 
from  the  Lord,  and  good  is  Use.  The  essence  of  spiri- 
tual love  is  to  do  good  to  others,  not  for  the  sake  of  self, 
but  for  the  sake  of  others;  infinitely  more  so  is  the 
essence  of  divine  love.  This  is  like  the  love  of  parents 
toward  children,  who  do  good  to  them  out  of  love,  not 
for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  their  children, 
as  is  manifest  in  the  love  of  a  mother  toward  her  chil- 
dren. It  is  believed  that  the  Lord,  because  he  is  to 
be  adored,  worshipped,  and  glorified,  loves  adoration, 
worship,  and  glory,  for  his  own  sake;  but  he  loves 
them  for  man's  sake,  because  man  thereby  comes  into 
such  a  state,  that  the  Divine  can  flow  in  and  be  per- 
ceived, for  thereby  man  removes  his  proprium  which 
prevents  influx  and  reception:  his  proprium,  which  is 
the  love  of  self,  hardens  his  heart  and  shuts  it.  This 
is  removed  by  the  acknowledgment  that  from  himself 
nothing  is  done  but  evil,  and  from  the  Lord  nothing 
but  good;  hence  comes  a  softening  of  the  heart  and  hu- 
miliation,   from    which    adoration    and    worship    flow. 

17 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

Hence  it  follows,  that  the  Use  which  the  Lord  performs 
to  himself  by  man,  is,  that  out  of  love  he  may  be  able 
to  do  good  to  man,  and  because  this  is  his  love,  recep- 
tion is  the  delight  of  his  love.  Let  not  any  one  there- 
fore believe  that  the  Lord  is  with  those  who  only  adore 
him,  but  that  he  is  with  those  who  do  his  command- 
ments, consequently  who  perform  Uses ;  with  the  latter 
he  has  his  abode,  but  not  with  the  former. 

EVIL  USES  WERE  NOT  CREATED  BY  THE 
LORD,  BUT  ARE  FROM  HELL 

All  goods  which  exist  in  act  are  called  Uses,  and  all 
evils  which  exist  in  act  are  also  called  Uses,  but  the 
latter  are  called  evil  Uses,  and  the  former  good  Uses. 
Now  as  all  goods  are  from  the  Lord,  and  all  evils  from 
hell,  it  follows,  that  no  other  than  good  Uses  were 
created  by  the  Lord,  and  that  evil  Uses  originated  from 
hell.  By  Uses,  which  are  treated  of  in  particular  in 
this  article,  we  mean  all  things  that  appear  on  earth, 
as  animals  of  all  kinds  and  vegetables  of  all  kinds ; 
of  both  the  latter  and  the  former,  those  which  furnish 
Use  to  man  are  from  the  Lord,  and  those  which  do 
hurt  to  man  are  from  hell.  In  like  manner  by  Uses  from 
the  Lord  we  mean  all  things  that  perfect  man's  rational, 
and  cause  him  to  receive  a  spiritual  principle  from  the 
Lord;  but  by  evil  Uses,  all  things  that  destroy  the 
rational  principle,  and  prevent  man  from  becoming 
spiritual.  The  things  that  do  hurt  to  man  are  called 
Uses,  because  they  are  of  Use  to  the  wicked  to  do  evil, 
and  because  they  contribute  to  absorb  malignities,  and 
thus  also  as  remedies.     Use  is  applied  in  both  senses, 

18 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

like  love;  for  we  speak  of  good  love  and  evil  love,  and 
love  calls  all  that  Use  which  is  done  by  itself.   .   .   . 

WHAT    IS    MEANT    BY    EVIL    USES    ON     EARTH 

Evil  Uses  on  earth  mean  all  noxious  things  in  both  the 
animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  and  also  in  the  min- 
eral kingdom.  It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  all 
the  noxious  things  in  these  kingdoms ;  for  this  would 
be  to  heap  up  names,  which,  without  indication  of  the 
noxious  effect  that  each  kind  produces,  does  not  pro- 
mote the  Use  which  this  work  intends.  For  the  sake 
of  science  it  is  sufficient  here  to  name  some  particulars. 
Such  in  the  animal  kingdom  are  poisonous  serpents, 
scorpions,  crocodiles,  dragons,  horned-owls,  screech-owls, 
mice,  locusts,  frogs,  spiders;  also  flies,  drones,  moths, 
lice,  mites,  in  a  word,  those  that  consume  grasses,  leaves, 
fruits,  seeds,  meat,  and  4rink,  and  are  noxious  to  beasts 
and  men.  In  the  vegetable  kingdom  they  are  all  malig- 
nant, virulent,  and  poisonous  herbs ;  and  pulse  and 
shrubs  of  the  same  kind;  in  the  mineral  kingdom  all 
poisonous  earths.  These  few  particulars  may  shew 
what  is  meant  by  evil  Uses  on  earth;  evil  Uses  are  all 
things  that  are  opposite  to  good  Uses,  concerning  which 
see  the  preceding  article. 

ALL    THINGS    THAT    ARE    EVIL    USES    ARE    IN    HELL,    AND 
ALL    THAT    ARE    GOOD    USES    IN    HEAVEN 

Before  it  can  be  seen  that  all  evil  Uses  that  exist  on 
earth  are  from  hell,  and  not  from  the  Lord,  something 
must  be  premised  concerning  heaven  and  hell.     Unless 

19 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

this  be  known,  evil  Uses  as  well  as  good  may  be  attribu- 
ted to  the  Lord,  and  supposed  to  exist  together  from  the 
creation,  or  they  may  be  attributed  to  nature,  and  their 
origin  to  the  sun  of  nature.  A  man  cannot  be  delivered 
from  these  two  errors,  unless  he  knows,  that  nothing 
whatever  exists  in  the  natural  world  that  does  not  de- 
rive its  cause  and  origin  from  the  spiritual  world,  and 
that  the  good  is  from  the  Lord,  and  the  evil  from  the 
devil,  that  is,  from  hell.  By  the  spiritual  world  is 
meant  both  heaven  and  hell.  In  heaven  appear  all  those 
things  that  are  good  Uses  (mentioned  in  the  preceding 
article)  ;  in  hell  all  that  are  evil  Uses  (mentioned  above, 
where  they  are  enumerated)  ;  wild  beasts  of  all  kinds, 
as  serpents,  scorpions,  dragons,  crocodiles,  tigers,  wolves, 
foxes,  swine,  owls  of  different  kinds,  bats,  rats  and 
mice,  frogs,  locusts,  spiders,  and  noxious  insects  of 
many  kinds:  hemlock  and  aconite,  and  all  kinds  of 
poison,  as  well  in  herbs  as  in  earths ;  in  a  word,  all  things 
that  do  hurt  and  kill  men ;  such  things  in  the  hells  ap- 
pear to  the  life,  just  like  those  on  the  earth  and  in  it. 
It  is  said  that  they  appear  there,  but  still  they  are  not 
there  as  on  earth,  for  they  are  mere  correspondences 
of  the  lusts  that  spring  from  evil  loves,  and  present 
themselves  before  others  in  such  forms.  Since  there  are 
such  things  in  hell,  therefore  they  also  abound  in  foul 
smells,  cadaverous,  stercoraceous,  urinous,  and  putrid, 
with  which  the  diabolical  spirits  there  are  delighted,  as 
animals  are  delighted  with  rank-smelling  things.  Hence 
it  may  appear,  that  similar  things  in  the  natural  world 
did  not  derive  their  origin  from  the  Lord,  and  were  not 
created  from  the  beginning,  and  did  not  originate  from 
nature  by  her  sun,  but  that  they  are  from  hell;  that 

20 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

they  are  not  from  nature  by  her  sun  is  evident,  because 
what  is  spiritual  flows  into  what  is  natural,  and  not 
vice  versa:  and  that  they  are  not  from  the  Lord  is  also 
evident,  because  hell  is  not  from  him,  and  therefore  no- 
thing in  hell  that  corresponds  to  the  evils  of  its  inhabi- 
tants.   D.  L.  317-339. 

CONJUGIAL    LOVE    THE    COMPI.EX    OF    AI.I.    I.OVES 

Ai.1.  pleasures  whatever,  which  are  felt  by  man,  are  of 
his  love;  the  love  by  them  manifests  itself,  yea,  exists 
and  lives ;  that  the  pleasures  are  exalted  in  the  same 
degree  as  the  love  is  exalted,  and  also  as  the  incidental 
affections  touch  the  ruling  love  more  nearly,  is  known. 
Now,  as  conjugial  love  is  the  fundamental  love  of  all  good 
loves,  and  as  it  is  inscribed  on  the  most  minute  par- 
ticulars of  man,  it  follows  that  its  pleasures  exceed  the 
pleasures  of  all  other  loves,  and  also  that  it  makes  other 
loves  pleasant,  according  to  its  presence,  and  conjunc- 
tion with  them ;  for  it  expands  the  inmost  of  the  mind, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  inmost  of  the  body,  as  the 
delightful  current  of  its  fountain  flows  through  and 
opens  them.  All  pleasures,  from  first  to  last,  are  gath- 
ered into  this  love,  because  of  the  superior  excellence 
of  its  Use  above  all  others ;  for  its  Use  is  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  human  race,  and  thence  of  the  angelic  heaven  ; 
and  because  this  Use  was  the  end  of  ends  of  creation, 
it  follows  that  all  the  blessedness,  happiness,  glad- 
nesses, gratifications,  and  pleasures,  which  by  the  Lord 
the  Creator  could  possibly  be  conferred  on  man,  are 
gathered  into  this  his  love.  That  pleasures  follow  Use, 
and  are  in  man  according  to  the  love  of  it,  is  manifest 

21 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

from  the  pleasures  of  the  five  senses — sight,  hearing, 
smell,  taste,  and  touch ;  each  of  these  has  pleasures  with 
variations  according  to  their  specific  Uses ;  what,  then, 
must  be  that  belonging  to  the  sense  of  conjugial  love, 
whose  Use  is  the  complex  of  all  other  Uses?     C.  L.  68. 


KINGDOM    OF    ENDS    AND    USES 

Wherefore,  also,  the  angels  who  are  present  with  man 
attend  to  nothing  else  but  to  ends  and  Uses,  and  ex- 
tract nothing  else  from  his  thoughts :  paying  no  regard 
to  other  matters,  which  are  things  ideal  and  material, 
as  being  far  beneath  their  sphere.    A.  C.  1645,  M.  R. 

A  life  of  pleasure  contrasted  with  a  life  of  use 

There  are  some  persons  who  live,  not  for  the  sake  of 
any  Use  they  may  be  to  their  country,  or  to  the  societies 
of  which  it  consists,  but  for  the  sake  of  living  to  them- 
selves, perceiving  no  delight  in  offices,  but  only  in  being 
honoured  and  paid  court  to,  (for  the  sake  of  which  end 
also  they  endeavour  to  get  appointed  to  offices,)  and 
also  in  eating,  drinking,  playing,  and  conversing,  for 
no  other  end  than  that  of  pleasure:  such,  in  the  other 
life,  cannot  have  any  thing  in  common  with  good  spirits, 
still  less  with  angels;  for  with  these  Use  constitutes  de- 
light, and  the  quantity  and  quality  of  their  delight  also 
is  according  to  Uses :  for  the  Lord's  kingdom  is  a  king- 
dom of  Uses,  and  if  in  an  earthly  kingdom  every  one 
is  estimated  and  honoured  according  to  the  Use  he  per- 
forms, how  much  more  so  in  a  heavenly  kingdom!  A. 
C.  5395,  M.  R. 

22 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 


TO    KNOW    YOUR    MOTIVES    OF    ACTION    STUDY 
YOUR    DELIGHTS 

Gen.  XXIX.  9-11.  If  any  one  is  desirous  to  know  the 
ends  by  which  he  is  influenced,  let  him  attend  only 
to  the  delight  which  he  perceives  in  himself  arising  from 
praise  and  self-glory,  and  then  to  the  delight  which  he 
perceives  arising  from  Use  separate  from  self;  if  he 
perceives  this  latter  delight,  he  is  then  in  genuine  af- 
fection.   A.  C.  3796. 


ACTIVITY,   NOT    IDLENESS,  BLESSES 

Gen.  XL.  20.  The  delight  derived  from  good,  and  the 
pleasantness  from  truth,  which  constitute  the  blessedness 
in  heaven,  do  not  consist  in  idleness,  but  in  activity ;  for 
what  is  delightful  and  pleasant  in  idleness  becomes  un- 
delightful  and  unpleasant;  but  what  is  delightful  and 
pleasant  in  activity  remains  and  continually  elevates, 
and  constitutes  blessedness.  With  those  who  are  in 
heaven,  activity  consists  in  performing  Uses,  which  to 
them  is  the  delight  derived  from  good,  and  in  relishing 
truths  with  a  view  to  Uses,  which  is  the  pleasantness 
derived  from  truth.     A.  C.  6410. 

THE    PRINCIPAL    CAUSE    AND    THE    INSTRUMENTAL    CAUSE 
ACT    AS    ONE 

It  is  an  eternal  truth,  that  the  Lord  governs  heaven 
and  earth ;  also  that  no  one  lives  from  himself  except  the 
Lord,  consequently  that  the  all  of  life  flows-in,  good  of 

23 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

life  from  the  Lord,  and  evil  of  life  from  hell;  this  is 
the  faith  of  the  heavens.  When  man  is  in  this  faith, 
in  which  he  may  be  when  in  good,  then  evil  cannot  be 
affixed  and  appropriated  to  him,  because  he  knows  that 
it  is  not  from  himself,  but  from  hell.  When  man  is  in 
this  state,  he  can  have  peace,  for  then  he  will  trust  solely 
in  the  Lord;  neither  can  peace  be  given  to  others  than 
to  those  who  are  in  this  faith  grounded  in  charity;  for 
others  are  continuall}^  a  prey  to  solicitudes  and  lusts, 
whence  come  anxieties.  Spirits  aspiring  to  govern  them- 
selves, suppose  that  this  would  be  to  lose  their  freedom 
of  will;  consequently  all  delight,  and  all  life's  sweet- 
ness. This  they  say  and  suppose,  because  they  do  not 
know  how  the  case  really  is ;  for  the  man  who  is  led  by 
the  Lord  is  in  essential  freedom,  and  thereby  in  essential 
delight  and  blessedness;  goods  and  truths  are  appro- 
priated to  him,  an  affection  and  desire  of  doing  good 
is  given  to  him,  and  then  nothing  is  more  happy  to  him 
than  to  perform  Uses;  the  perception  and  sensation  of 
good,  together  with  intelligence  and  wisdom,  are  also 
given  him;  and  all  these  things  are  as  his  own;  for  in 
this  case  he  is  a  recipient  of  the  Lord's  life.  It  is  known 
in  the  learned  world,  that  the  principal  cause  and  the 
instrumental  act  together  as  one  cause;  man,  inasmuch 
as  he  is  a  form  recipient  of  the  Lord's  life,  is  an  in- 
strumental cause,  but  life  from  the  Lord  is  the  princi- 
pal cause;  this  latter  life  is  felt  in  the  instrumental  as 
its  own,  when  yet  it  is  not  so.    A.  C.  6325,  M.  R. 

Alili    THE    ENDS    OF    CREATION    ARE    USES 

All  things  which  have  hitherto  been  spoken  of,  as  the 
sun,  the  atmospheres,  and  earths,  are  only  means  to  ends : 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

the  ends  of  creation  are  the  things  produced  by  the 
Lord  as  a  sun,  through  the  atmospheres,  from  the  earths, 
and  these  ends  are  called  Uses;  they  embrace,  in  their 
whole  extent,  all  things  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  all 
things  of  the  animal  kingdom,  and  at  length  the  human 
race,  and  by  the  human  race  the  angelic  heaven.  These 
are  called  Uses,  because  they  are  recipients  of  divine 
love  and  divine  wisdom;  also  because  they  look  to  God, 
their  Creator,  and  thereby  conjoin  him  to  his  great 
work,  and  by  this  conjunction  cause  themselves  to  sub- 
sist from  him  as  they  existed.  We  say  that  they  look 
to  God,  their  Creator,  and  conjoin  him  to  his  great 
vv^ork,  but  this  is  spoken  from  appearance:  the  meaning 
is,  that  God  the  Creator  causes  them  to  look,  and  conjoin 
themselves  as  of  themselves.     D.  L. 

ALl.    USES    ARE    WORKS    AND    THE    DELIGHT 
OF    THE   ANGELS 

Gen.  XLvn.  2-6.  All  the  goods,  which  are  called  goods 
of  charity,  are  nothing  but  Uses,  and  Uses  are  nothing 
but  works  toward  our  neighbour,  our  country,  the 
church,  and  the  Lord's  kingdom;  charity  itself  also, 
viewed  in  itself,  does  not  become  charity  until  it  comes 
into  act  and  becomes  a  work.  For  to  love  any  one, 
and  not  to  do  him  good  when  there  is  the  power,  is  not 
to  love;  but  to  do  him  good  when  there  is  the  power, 
is  to  love  him ;  and  in  this  case  all  things  of  charity 
toward  him  are  contained  inwardly  in  the  deed  or  work 
itself.  For  works  are  the  complex  of  all  the  things  of 
charity  and  faith  in  man,  and  are  what  are  called 
spiritual  goods,  and  also  become  goods  by  exercises,  that 
is,  by  Uses.     As  the  angels  in  heaven  are  principled  in 

25 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

good  from  the  Lord,  they  desire  nothing  more  than  to 
perform  Uses;  these  are  the  very  delights  of  their  life, 
and  they  also  enjoy  blessedness  and  happiness  accord- 
ing to  their  Uses ;  which  likewise  the  Lord  teaches  in 
Matthew,  "  The  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the  glory 
of  his  Father,  with  his  angels,  and  then  shall  he  render 
to  every  one  according  to  his  works,"  xvi.  27.  In  this 
passage,  by  works  are  not  meant  works  as  they  appear 
in  the  external  form,  but  as  they  are  in  the  internal 
form,  viz.,  according  to  the  principle  of  charity  con- 
tained in  them;  this  is  the  only  view  which  the  angels 
have  of  works.    A.  C.  6073. 

NO    PERSON    NOR    THING    THAT    DOES    NOT 
PERFORM   USES 

The  kingdom  of  the  Lord,  which  is  not  only  over  heaven, 
but  also  over  hell,  is  a  kingdom  of  Uses ;  and  the  Provi- 
dence of  the  Lord  is,  that  there  should  not  be  any  per- 
son or  any  thing,  from  and  by  which  Use  is  not  per- 
formed.    D.  P. 

IN    HEAVEN    EVERY    DELIGHT    IS    OF    USE    AND 
ACCORDING    TO    USE 

All  the  delights  of  heaven  are  conjoined  with  and  are 
in  Uses,  because  Uses  are  the  goods  of  love  and  charity 
in  which  the  angels  are ;  wherefore  every  one  has  delights 
such  as  the  Uses  are,  and  likewise  in  such  a  degree  as 
is  the  affection  of  Use.  That  all  the  delights  of  heaven 
are  delights  of  Use,  may  be  manifest  from  comparison 
with  the  five  senses  of  the  body  of  man.     There  is  given 

26 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

to  every  sense  a  delight  according  to  its  Use;  to  the 
sight  its  delight,  to  the  hearing,  the  smell,  the  taste, 
and  the  touch,  each  its  own  delight ;  to  the  sight 
delight  from  beauty  and  forms,  to  the  hearing  from 
harmonious  sounds,  to  the  smell  from  pleasing  odours,  to 
the  taste  from  fine  flavours.  The  Uses  which  each  of  them 
perform  are  known  to  those  who  attend  to  such  things, 
and  more  fully  to  those  who  are  acquainted  with  cor- 
respondences. That  the  sight  has  such  delight,  is  from 
the  Use  which  it  affords  to  the  understanding,  which 
is  the  internal  sight ;  that  the  hearing  has  such  delight, 
is  from  the  Use  which  it  affords  both  to  the  understand- 
ing and  to  the  will,  by  hearkening;  that  the  smell  has 
such  delight,  is  from  the  Use  which  it  affords  to  the 
brain  and  also  to  the  lungs ;  that  the  taste  has  such  de- 
light, is  from  the  Use  which  it  affords  to  the  stomach, 
and  thence  to  the  whole  body,  by  nourishing  it.  Con- 
jugial  delight,  which  is  a  purer  and  more  exquisite  de- 
light of  touch,  is  more  excellent  than  all  those,  on  ac- 
count of  its  Use,  which  is  the  procreation  of  the  human 
race,  and  thereby  of  angels  of  heaven.  These  delights 
are  in  those  sensories  from  an  influx  of  heaven,  where 
every  delight  is  of  Use  and  according  to  Use.  H.  H. 
402. 

INFERNAL    SPIRITS    HAVE    TO    PERFORM    USES 

Such  is  the  equilibrium  of  all  and  every  thing  in  an- 
other life,  that  evil  punishes  itself,  so  that  in  evil  is  the 
punishment  of  evil.  It  is  similar  in  respect  to  the  false, 
which  returns  upon  him  who  is  principled  therein,  hence 
every  one  brings  punishment  and  torment  on  himself, 

27 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

by  casting  himself  into  the  midst  of  the  diabolical  crew, 
who  act  as  the  executioners.  The  Lord  never  sends  any 
one  into  hell,  but  is  desirous  to  bring  all  out  of  hell; 
still  less  does  he  induce  torment ;  but  since  the  evil  spirit 
rushes  into  it  himself,  the  Lord  turns  all  punishment  and 
torment  to  some  good  and  Use.  It  would  be  impossible 
there  should  be  any  such  thing  as  punishment,  unless  Use 
was  the  end  aimed  at  by  the  Lord,  for  the  Lord's  kingdom 
is  a  kingdom  of  ends  and  Uses,  but  the  Uses  which  the 
infernal  spirits  are  able  to  promote,  are  most  vile,  and 
when  they  are  exercised  in  promoting  those  Uses,  they 
are  not  in  so  great  a  state  of  torment ;  but  on  the  cessa- 
tion of  such  Uses,  they  are  cast  again  into  hell.  A.  C. 
696,  M.  R. 

ANGELIC    HAPPINESS   IS   IN    USE,   FROM    USE,    FOR    USE 

The  angelic  life  consists  in  Use,  and  in  the  goods  of 
charity.  For  nothing  is  more  delightful  to  the  angels 
than  to  instruct  and  teach  spirits  coming  from  the  world, 
— to  serve  mankind  by  inspiring  them  with  what  is  good, 
and  by  restraining  the  evil  spirits  attendant  on  them 
from  passing  their  proper  bounds, — to  raise  up  the  dead 
to  eternal  life,  and  afterw^ards,  if  their  souls  be  of  such 
a  quality  as  to  render  it  possible,  to  introduce  them 
into  heaven.  In  the  performance  of  these  offices  the}^ 
perceive  an  indescribable  degree  of  delight.  Thus  they 
are  images  of  the  Lord,  for  they  love  their  neighbour 
more  than  themselves,  and  where  this  feeling  exists, 
there  is  heaven.  Angelic  happiness  then  is  in  Use,  from 
Use,  and  according  to  Use;  or,  in  other  words,  it  is  ac- 
cording to  the  goods  of  love  and  charity.     Those  who 

28 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

entertained  the  idea,  that  heavenly  joy  consists  in  in- 
dolence and  in  indolently  quaffing  eternal  delight,  were, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  them  ashamed  of  their  opin- 
ions, led  to  perceive  the  nature  of  such  life.  And  they 
perceived  that  it  is  most  thoroughly  sorrowful ;  for  be- 
ing destructive  of  every  delight,  it  soon  becomes  irk- 
some and  disgusting.     A.  C.  452,  453,  454,  M.  R. 

HEAVENLY    LOVE    AND    SELF-LOVE    CONTRASTED 

From  a  comparison  of  self-love  with  heavenly  love,  its 
quality  may  be  made  manifest.  Heavenly  love  consists 
in  loving  Uses  for  the  sake  of  Uses,  or  goods  for  the 
sake  of  goods,  which  a  man  performs  for  the  church, 
for  his  country,  for  human  society,  and  for  a  fellow- 
citizen  ;  for  this  is  to  love  God  and  to  love  the  neighbour, 
because  all  Uses  and  all  goods  are  from  God,  and  are 
likewise  the  neighbour  who  is  to  be  loved.  But  he  who 
loves  them  for  the  sake  of  himself,  loves  them  no  other- 
wise than  as  serving  attendants,  because  they  serve 
himself.  Hence  it  follows  that  he  who  is  in  self-love, 
wills  that  the  church,  his  country,  human  societies,  and 
his  fellow-citizens  should  serve  him,  and  not  he  them, 
for  he  places  himself  above  them,  and  them  below  him- 
self. Hence  it  is  that  so  far  as  any  one  is  in  self-love, 
so  far  he  removes  himself  from  heaven,  because  from 
heavenly  love.     H.  H.  557. 

The  end  for  the  sake  of  which  wealth  is  sought,  is 
called  its  Use,  and  it  is  the  end  or  Use  from  which  the 
love  has  its  quality;  for  the  love  is  of  such  a  quality 
as  is  the  end  regarded,  and  all  other  things  only  serve  it 
as  means.     H.  H.  565. 

29 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 


JOYS     OF     HEAVEN     FROM     CONJUNCTION     OF 
I.OVE    AND    WISDOM 

The  joys  of  heaven  and  eternal  happiness  are  not  places, 
but  states  of  the  life  of  man  (homo),  and  a  state  of 
heavenl}^  life  is  from  love  and  wisdom ;  and  because  Use 
is  the  continent  of  these  two,  therefore  a  state  of  hea- 
venly life  is  from  the  conjunction  of  love  and  wisdom 
in  Use.  It  is  the  same  thing  if  we  say  charity,  faith, 
and  good  works,  inasmuch  as  charity  is  love,  faith  is 
truth  from  which  is  wisdom,  and  good  works  are  Uses. 
C.  L.  10. 

ETERNAL    REST    NOT    IDLENESS 

Eternal  rest  is  not  idleness,  since  from  idleness  is  lan- 
guor, torpor,  stupor,  and  deep  sleep  of  the  mind,  and 
thence  of  the  whole  body,  and  these  are  death  and  not 
life,  and  still  less  eternal  life  in  which  the  angels  of 
heaven  are;  wherefore  eternal  rest  is  a  rest  which  dis- 
pels these,  and  causes  man  to  live ;  and  this  is  nothing 
else  but  such  as  elevates  the  mind;  it  is  therefore  some 
study  and  work  by  which  the  mind  is  excited,  vivified, 
and  delighted;  and  this  is  done  according  to  the  Use, 
from  which,  in  which,  and  to  which  it  operates;  hence 
it  is,  that  the  entire  heaven  is  regarded  by  the  Lord  as 
containing  Uses ;  and  every  angel  is  an  angel  according 
to  Use ;  the  pleasure  of  Use  carries  him  on,  as  a  favour- 
able stream  does  a  ship,  and  causes  him  to  be  in  eter- 
nal peace,  and  in  the  rest  of  peace;  thus  is  understood 
eternal  rest  from  labours.     That  an  angel  is  alive  ac- 

30 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

cording  to  the  application  of  the  mind  from  Use,  is 
clearly  manifest  from  this,  that  every  one  has  conjugial 
love  with  its  ability,  potency,  and  delights,  according 
to  his  application  to  the  genuine  Use  in  which  he  is. 
C.  L.  207. 

WHAT   IS   HEAVENLY    JOY? 

What  then  is  heavenly  joy?  It  is  the  delight  of  doing 
something  useful  to  ourselves  and  others,  and  the  de- 
light of  Use  derives  its  essence  from  love,  and  its  ex- 
istence from  wisdom ;  the  delight  of  Use  arising  from 
love,  through  wisdom,  is  the  life  and  soul  of  all  heavenly 
joys.  In  the  heavens  there  are  most  joyful  consocia- 
tions, which  exhilarate  the  minds  (mentes)  of  the  angels, 
delight  their  souls  (animi),  fill  their  bosoms  with  plea- 
sure, and  recreate  their  bodies ;  but  not  until  they  have 
performed  Uses  in  their  functions  and  employments; 
from  these  Uses  is  the  soul  or  life  of  all  their  joys  and 
delights ;  and  if  this  soul  or  life  be  taken  away,  acces- 
sory joys  gradually  become  no  joys,  exciting  first  of  all 
indifference,  then  disgust,  and  lastly  sorrow  and  anx- 
iety.    C.  L.  58. 

USE    QUALIFIES    TRUTH 

Instructions  in  the  heavens  differ  from  instructions 
on  earth  in  this,  that  knowledges  are  not  committed  to 
the  memory,  but  to  the  life;  for  the  memory  of  spirits 
is  in  their  life,  inasmuch  as  they  receive  and  imbibe  all 
things  which  are  in  agreement  with  their  life,  and  do  not 
receive,  still  less  imbibe,  those  things  which  are  not  in 

31 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

agreement ;  for  spirits  are  affections,  and  thence  in  a 
human  form  similar  to  their  affections.  This  being  the 
case  with  them,  the  affection  of  truth  is  continually 
inspired  for  the  sake  of  the  Uses  of  life ;  for  the  Lord 
provides  that  every  one  may  love  the  Uses  suited  to  his 
genius,  which  love  is  also  exalted  by  the  hope  of  becom- 
ing an  angel.  And  whereas  all  the  Uses  of  heaven  have 
reference  to  the  common  Use,  which  is  for  the  Lord's 
kingdom,  this  kingdom  being  their  country,  and  whereas 
all  special  and  particular  Uses  are  excellent  in  propor- 
tion as  they  more  nearly  and  more  fully  regard  that 
common  Use,  therefore  all  special  and  particular  Uses, 
which  are  innumerable,  are  good  and  heavenly.  With 
every  one  therefore  the  affection  of  truth  is  conjoined 
with  the  affection  of  Use,  insomuch  that  they  act  as  one ; 
truth  is  thus  implanted  in  Use,  so  that  the  truths  which 
they  learn  are  truths  of  Use.  Thus  angelic  spirits  are 
instructed  and  prepared  for  heaven.  The  affection  of 
truth  suitable  for  Use  is  insinuated  by  various  means, 
most  of  which  are  unknown  in  the  world;  chiefly  by 
representatives  of  Uses,  which  in  the  spiritual  world 
are  exhibited  by  a  thousand  methods,  and  with  such 
delights  and  pleasures  that  they  penetrate  the  spirit, 
from  the  interiors  which  are  of  his  mind  to  the  exte- 
riors which  are  of  his  body,  and  thus  affect  the  whole. 
Hence  the  spirit  becomes  as  it  were  his  own  Use;  and 
so  when  he  comes  into  his  own  society,  into  which  he  is 
initiated  by  instruction,  he  is  in  his  own  life  when  in  his 
own  Use.  From  these  things  it  may  be  manifest  that 
knowledges,  which  are  external  truths,  do  not  introduce 
any  one  into  heaven,  but  the  life  itself,  which  is  the  life 
of  Use,  implanted  by  knowledges.     H.  H.  517. 

32 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 


MAN    A    FORM    OF    ALL    USES 


Every  one,  who  thinks  with  any  enlightenment,  may 
see,  that  love  has  for  end  and  intends  Use,  and  pro- 
duces Use  by  wisdom.  Love  of  itself  cannot  produce 
any  Use,  but  by  means  of  wisdom.  What,  indeed,  is 
love,  unless  there  be  something  that  is  loved?  This 
something  is  Use;  and  as  Use  is  what  is  loved,  and  it  is 
produced  by  wisdom,  it  follows  that  Use  is  the  conti- 
nent of  wisdom  and  love.  These  three,  love,  wisdom, 
and  Use,  follow  in  order  according  to  the  degrees  of 
altitude,  and  the  ultimate  degree  is  the  complex,  con- 
tinent, and  basis  of  the  prior  degrees.  Hence  it  may 
appear,  that  these  three,  the  Divine  of  love,  the  Divine 
of  wisdom,  and  the  Divine  of  Use,  are  in  the  Lord,  and 
that  in  essence  they  are  the  Lord. 

That  man  considered  as  to  exteriors  and  interiors  is  a 
form  of  all  Uses,  and  that  all  Uses  in  the  created  uni- 
verse correspond  to  those  L^ses,  will  be  fully  shown  in 
what  follows:  it  is  merely  mentioned  here,  in  order  to 
shew,  that  God  as  a  Man  is  the  essential  form  of  all 
Uses, — the  form  from  which  all  the  Uses  in  the  created 
universe  derive  their  origin ;  and  that  the  created  uni- 
verse, viewed  as  to  Uses,  is  an  image  of  God.  Those 
things  that  are  from  God-Man,  that  is,  from  the  Lord, 
by  creation  in  order  are  called  L^ses :  but  not  those  that 
are  from  man's  proprium,  for  that  proprium  is  hell, 
and  those  things  that  are  from  it  are  contrary  to  order. 
D.  L.  297,  298. 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 


TRUTHS    OF    HIS    FAITH 


Gen.  XXVII.  1—8.  From  these  considerations  it  may  be 
manifest  how  the  case  is  with  the  truths  of  faith  and 
with  the  goods  of  love  appertaining  to  the  man  who  is 
regenerating,  namely,  that  the  good  which  is  of  love 
chooses  to  itself  suitable  truths  of  faith,  and  by  them 
perfects  itself,  and  thus  that  the  good  of  love  is  in  the 
first  place,  and  the  truths  of  faith  in  the  second.  The 
scientifics  or  knowledges  of  good  and  truth  in  the  mem- 
ory of  the  external  man,  after  that  they  have  per- 
formed the  above  Use,  as  it  were  vanish  away  from  that 
memory.  In  this  respect  they  are  like  those  principles 
of  instruction  which  have  served  man  from  infancy,  as 
means  of  perfecting  his  moral  and  civil  life,  and  which, 
after  they  have  performed  that  Use,  and  man  has  thence 
derived  life,  perish  from  the  memory,  and  remain  only 
as  to  exercise  or  Use.  Thus  man  learns  to  speak,  learns 
to  think,  learns  to  discern  and  judge,  learns  to  con- 
verse morally,  and  to  behave  himself  decently ;  in  a  word, 
learns  languages,  manners,  intelligence  and  wisdom. 
The  scientifics,  which  served  for  those  Uses,  are  signified 
by  ashes,  which  are  to  be  removed;  and  the  knowledges 
of  truth  and  of  good,  by  which  man  receives  spiritual 
life,  after  that  they  have  served  for  Use,  that  is,  have 
imbued  life,  are  signified  by  the  ashes  of  the  altar,  which 
are  also  to  be  removed.    A.  C.  9723. 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


THE    USE    DETERMINES    THE    QUALITY    OF 
THE    AFFECTION 

Gen.  XXIV.  12-14.  The  good  of  affection  is  like  ground, 
wherein  truths  as  seeds  are  inseminated,  but  such  as  the 
ground  is,  that  is,  such  as  the  affection  is,  such  is  the 
produce  of  what  is  inseminated;  the  end  or  Use  dictates 
what  is  the  quality  of  the  ground,  or  what  the  quality 
of  the  affection,  consequently  what  is  the  quality  of  the 
produce  of  what  is  inseminated;  or  if  you  would  rather 
express  it  thus,  love  itself  dictates,  for  love  is  to  all 
both  end  and  Use,  inasmuch  as  nothing  is  accounted 
as  end  and  Use  but  what  is  loved. 

Thus  it  is  also  with  man  about  to  be  regenerated; 
his  first  affection  of  truth  is  very  impure,  for  there  is 
in  it  an  affection  of  Use  as  an  end  for  the  sake  of  him- 
self, for  the  sake  of  the  world,  for  the  sake  of  glory  in 
heaven,  and  such  like  things,  which  respect  himself,  but 
not  the  community,  the  Lord's  kingdom,  and  still  less 
the  Lord.  Such  an  affection  must  needs  precede;  nev- 
ertheless it  is  successively  purified  by  the  Lord,  till  at 
length  false  and  evil  principles  are  removed  and  cast 
out  as  it  were  to  the  circumference;  still  they  were  sub- 
servient as  means.     A.  C.  3089. 

WHY    FOOD    IN    A    SPIRITUAL    SENSE    IS    EVERY 
THING   THAT    IS    OF   USE 

Gen.  xli.  23-26.  "  And  let  them  gather  all  the  food." 
— This  signifies  all  things  which  are  of  Use,  as  appears 
( 1 . )  from  the  signification  of  "  to  gather,"  as  denoting 

35 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

to  bring  together  and  preserve;  and  (2.)  from  the  sig- 
nification of  "  food,"  as  denoting  the  things  which  are 
of  Use.  Food  in  the  internal  sense  properly  signifies 
the  things  which  nourish  the  soul  of  man,  that  is,  which 
nourish  him  after  the  life  of  the  body ;  for  he  then  lives 
a  soul  or  spirit,  and  no  longer  has  need  of  material 
food,  as  in  the  world,  but  of  spiritual  food,  which  is 
all  that  which  is  of  Use,  and  which  conduces  to  Use. 
What  conduces  to  Use  is  to  know  what  is  good  and  true ; 
what  is  of  Use  is  to  will  and  to  do  what  is  good  and 
true;  these  are  the  things  whereby  the  angels  are  nour- 
ished, and  which  are  therefore  called  spiritual  and  celes- 
tial food.  The  mind  of  man,  where  his  interior  under- 
standing and  interior  will,  or  his  intentions  or  ends  of 
life,  are,  is  not  nourished  by  any  other  food  even  while 
it  lives  in  the  body:  material  food  does  not  penetrate 
there,  but  only  to  the  things  of  the  body  which  that  food 
supports,  to  the  end  that  the  mind  may  enjoy  its  food 
when  the  body  enjoys  its,  that  is,  that  the  man  may  have 
a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body.  That  food  or  meat  in 
the  internal  sense  is  every  thing  which  is  of  Use,  is  evi- 
dent from  these  words  of  the  Lord :  "  Jesus  said  to  his 
disciples,  I  have  meat  to  eat  which  ye  know  not  of:  the 
disciples  said  one  to  another.  Hath  any  one  brought  him 
to  eat.'^  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  My  meat  is  to  do  the 
will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  -finish  his  work,'^  John 
iv.  32-34.  And  in  another  place :  "  Labour  not  for  the 
meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  the  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life,  which  the  Son  of  man  will  give 
unto  you;  for  him  hath  God  the  Father  sealed,"  John 
vi.  27.     A.  C.  5293. 


36 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 


A    PERSON    IS    OF    HONOUR    FROM    HIS    USE 

As  every  one  loves,  esteems,  and  honours  Use,  so  also  he 
loves,  esteems,  and  honours  the  person  to  whom  that  Use 
is  adjoined;  and  likewise  that  the  person  is  so  far  loved, 
esteemed,  and  honoured,  as  he  does  not  ascribe  the  Use  to 
himself,  but  to  the  Lord;  for  so  far  he  is  wise,  and  so 
far  the  Uses  which  he  performs,  he  performs  from  good. 
Spiritual  love,  esteem,  and  honour,  are  nothing  else  than 
the  love,  esteem,  and  honour  of  Use  in  the  person,  and 
the  honour  of  the  person  from  the  Use,  and  not  of  the  Use 
from  the  person.  He  also  who  regards  men  from  spiri- 
tual truth,  regards  them  no  otherwise;  for  he  sees  one 
man  like  to  another,  whether  he  be  in  great  dignity  or 
in  little,  with  a  difference  only  in  wisdom ;  and  wisdom 
is  to  love  Use,  thus  the  good  of  a  fellow-citizen,  of  a 
society,  of  the  country,  and  of  the  church.     H.  H.  390. 

SUCH    AS    THE    USE    IS,    SUCH    IS    THE    GOOD 

Gen.  XXIV.  10.  Common  scientifics  are  not  good  in 
themselves,  nor  alive,  but  the  affection  thereof  causes 
them  to  be  good  and  to  live,  for  in  this  case  they  have 
respect  to  Use ;  no  one  is  affected  with  any  scientific,  or 
truth,  except  on  account  of  Use,  Use  making  it  good; 
but  such  as  the  Use  is,  such  is  the  good.    A.  C.  3049. 

SCIENTIFICS    AND    KNOWLEDGES    ARE    OF    NO 
AVAIL    EXCEPT    FOR    USE 

Gen.  XVI.  16.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  rational 
principle  can  never  be  conceived  and  born,  or  formed, 

37 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

without  scientifics  and  knowledges:  but  those  scientifics 
and  knowledges  ought  to  have  Use  for  their  end,  and 
then  they  have  life  for  their  end,  since  all  life  has  rela- 
tion to  Uses,  as  having  relation  to  ends.  Unless  they  are 
learned  with  a  view  to  a  life  of  Uses,  they  are  of  no 
importance,  because  they  are  of  no  Use.  From  scientifics 
and  knowledges  alone,  without  the  life  of  Use,  a  rational 
principle  is  formed  as  above  described,  like  a  wild-ass, 
morose,  contentious,  having  a  parched  and  dry  life, 
originating  in  a  certain  delight  of  truth  defiled  with  self- 
love.  But  when  they  have  Use  for  their  end,  they  then 
receive  life  from  Uses;  nevertheless,  the  quality  of  their 
life  is  according  to  that  of  the  Uses.  They  who  learn 
knowledges  in  order  to  be  perfected  in  the  faith  of  love, 
(for  true  and  real  faith  is  love  to  the  Lord  and  neigh- 
bourly love,)  are  in  the  Use  of  all  Uses,  and  receive  from 
the  Lord  spiritual  and  celestial  life;  and  when  they  are 
in  that  life,  they  are  in  the  faculty  of  perceiving  all 
things  which  relate  to  the  Lord's  kingdom.  All  the 
angels  are  in  such  a  life,  and  are,  in  consequence,  in 
intelligence  and  wisdom.     A.  C.  1964. 

It  is  not  enough  to  be  delighted  with  knowledges,  be- 
cause knowledges  have  respect  to  Uses,  and  Uses  ought 
to  be  the  end  of  knowledges;  from  knowledges  alone 
no  Use  results  to  them,  but  to  others  with  whom  they 
are  disposed  to  communicate  their  knowledges ;  and  it 
is  not  expedient  for  any  man  who  is  willing  to  become 
wise,  to  stand  still  in  knowledges  alone,  these  being  only 
instrumental  causes,  intended  to  be  subservient  to  the 
investigation  of  Uses,  which  Uses  ought  to  be  Uses  of 
life.    A.  C.  6815,  M.  R. 

38 


THE   USEFUL  LIFE 

Gen.  II.  1-3.  "  The  Lord  said  to  him  who  went  away 
and  hid  the  talent  in  the  earth,  Take  ye  the  talent  from 
him,  and  give  to  him  that  hath  ten  talents;  for  to  every 
one  that  hath  shall  he  given,  that  he  may  abound:  and 
from  him  who  hath  not,  shall  he  taken  away  even  what 
he  hath:  hut  cast  out  the  unprofitable  servant  into  outer 
darkness,''  Matthew  xxv.  25,  28,  29,  30.  And  Luke 
xix.  24,  25,  26.  In  like  manner  the  same  Evangelist, 
"  Whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  he  given,  that  he  may 
have  abundantly,  hut  whosoever  hath  not,  even  what  he 
hath  shall  be  taken  away  from  him,''  xiii.  12.  The 
reason  is,  because  the  knowledges  of  good  and  evil  ap- 
pertaining to  the  evil  are  appHed  to  evil  Uses;  and  the 
knowledges  of  good  and  truth  appertaining  to  the  good 
are  applied  to  good  Uses ;  the  knowledges  are  the  same, 
but  application  of  Uses  constitutes  their  quality  with 
every  one:  they  are  in  this  respect  like  worldly  riches, 
which  with  one  are  disposed  of  for  good  Uses,  with 
another  for  evil  Uses;  hence  riches  with  every  one 
have  a  quality  according  to  the  quality  of  the  Uses 
to  which  they  are  applied:  from  this  consideration 
it  is  also  evident  that  the  same  knowledges,  like 
the  same  riches,  which  had  appertained  to  the  evil, 
may  appertain  to  the  good,  and  serve  good  Uses: 
from  these  considerations  it  may  now  be  made  mani- 
fest what  is  represented  by  the  command,  that  the 
sons  of  Israel  should  borrow  from  the  Egyptians  vessels 
of  silver  and  vessels  of  gold,  and  thus  should  rob  and 
plunder  them ;  such  robbery  or  plunder  would  in  no  wise 
have  been  commanded  by  Jehovah,  unless  it  had  repre- 
sented such  things  in  the  spiritual  world ;  similar  hereto 
is  what  is  written  in  Isaiah,  "  At  length  the  merchandise 

39 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

of  Tyre,  and  her  meretricious  hire,  shall  be  honour  to 
Jehovah;  it  shall  not  be  laid  aside,  neither  shall  it  be 
withheld;  but  her  merchandise  shall  be  for  them  that 
dwell  before  Jehovah,  to  eat,  to  satiate  themselves,  and 
for  him  that  covereth  himself  with  what  is  ancient,'' 
xxiii.  18,  speaking  of  Tyre,  by  which  are  signified  the 
knowledges  of  good  and  truth;  merchandise  and  mere- 
tricious hire  are  knowledges  applied  to  evil  Uses;  that 
they  would  be  given  to  the  good,  who  will  apply  them 
to  good  Uses,  is  signified  by  her  merchandise  being  for 
them  who  dwell  before  Jehovah.     A.  C.  7770. 

WORK    MUST    BE    USE 

Gen.  XL.  16-19.  The  reason  why  work  denotes  Use  is, 
because  it  is  predicated  of  the  will,  or  of  the  subjection 
of  the  sensual,  subject  to  the  will-part,  and  whatever  is 
done  thereby,  and  may  be  called  work,  must  be  Use :  all 
works  of  charity  are  nothing  else,  for  they  are  works 
from  the  will,  which  are  Uses.    A.  C.  5078. 

USES    THE    BONDS    OF    HUMAN    SOCIETY    AND 
THE    DELIGHTS    OF    HEAVEN 

Man,  when  first  created,  was  imbued  with  wisdom  and 
its  love,  not  for  the  sake  of  himself,  but  for  the  sake  of 
its  communication  with  others  from  himself;  hence  it 
is  inscribed  on  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  that  no  one  is 
wise,  or  lives  for  himself  alone,  but  for  others  at  the 
same  time;  thence  is  society,  which  otherwise  could  not 
be;  to  live  for  others  is  to  perform  Uses;  Uses  are  the 
bonds  of  society,  which  are  just  as  many  as  there  are 

40 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

good  Uses,  and  the  number  of  Uses  is  infinite ;  there  are 
spiritual  Uses,  which  are  of  love  to  God,  and  of  love  to- 
ward our  neighbour;  there  are  moral  and  civil  Uses, 
which  are  of  the  love  of  the  society  and  state  in  which  a 
man  is,  and  of  his  fellow-citizens  with  whom  he  lives ; 
there  are  natural  Uses,  which  are  of  the  love  of  the  world 
and  its  necessities;  and  there  are  bodily  Uses,  which 
are  of  the  love  of  self-preservation  for  the  sake  of  su- 
perior Uses.  All  these  Uses  are  inscribed  on  man,  and 
follow  in  order  one  after  another;  and  when  they  are 
together,  one  is  in  the  other:  they  who  are  in  the  first 
Uses,  which  are  spiritual,  are  in  the  succeeding  ones 
also,  and  are  wise;  but  they  who  are  not  in  the  first, 
and  yet  are  in  the  second,  and  thereby  in  the  succeeding 
ones,  are  not  thus  wise,  but  only  appear  to  be  so  from 
external  morality  and  civility;  they  who  are  neither 
in  the  first  nor  second,  but  only  in  the  third  and  fourth, 
are  not  in  the  least  wise,  for  they  are  satans,  for  they  love 
only  the  world,  and  themselves  from  the  world ;  but  they 
who  are  only  in  the  fourth,  are  of  all  least  wise,  for  they 
are  devils,  because  they  live  for  themselves  alone,  and  if 
for  others,  it  is  only  for  the  sake  of  themselves.  Moreover 
every  love  has  its  own  pleasure,  for  by  this  love  lives,  and 
the  pleasure  of  the  love  of  Uses  is  heavenly  pleasure, 
which  enters  succeeding  pleasures  in  order,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  succession  exalts  them  and  makes 
them  eternal.  After  this  they  enumerated  the  heavenly 
delights  proceeding  from  the  love  of  Use,  and  said  that 
they  are  myriads  of  myriads.     C.  L.  18. 


41 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


LOVE    AND    WISDOM    ONLY    EXIST    IN    USE 

There  are  three  [things]  which  as  one  flow  from  the 
Lord  into  our  minds ;  these  three  as  one,  or  this  trine, 
are  love,  wisdom,  and  Use;  but  love  and  wisdom  do  not 
exist  unless  ideally,  when  only  in  the  affections  and 
thoughts  of  the  mind,  but  they  exist  in  Use  really,  be- 
cause they  are  simultaneously  in  act  and  bodily  work ; 
and  where  they  exist  really,  there  they  also  subsist ;  and 
because  love  and  wisdom  exist  and  subsist  in  Use,  it  is 
Use  which  affects  us;  and  Use  is  faithfully,  sincerely, 
and  diligently  to  perform  the  works  of  one's  function. 
The  love  of  Use,  and  therefrom  a  fixed  attention  to  Use, 
hold  together  the  mind,  so  that  it  may  not  flow  forth 
and  dissipate  itself,  and  wander  about,  and  drink  in  all 
the  lusts  which  flow  in  from  the  body  and  the  world 
through  the  senses,  with  their  allurements,  by  which  the 
truths  of  religion  and  morality,  with  all  their  goods, 
are  scattered  to  the  winds ;  but  a  studious  fixing  of  the 
mind  upon  Use  holds  and  binds  them  together  in  Use, 
and  disposes  the  mind  into  a  form  receptive  of  wisdom 
from  those  truths,  and  then  it  exterminates  the  sports 
and  mockeries  of  falsities  and  vanities.    C.  L.  15. 


ANGELS    AEE    FORMS    OF    THEIR    USE 

Gen.  xxiii.  14-19.  It  is  said  in  the  church,  that  faith 
is  from  the  Lord,  but  it  is  to  be  noted,  that  faith  which 
is  from  charity  is  from  the  Lord,  but  not  faith  separate 
from  charity,  for  this  faith  is  from  the  proprium.  .  .  . 

42 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

The  man  who  is  affected  with  truths  merely  for  the  sake 
of  the  reputation  of  learning,  that  he  may  gain  honour 
and  wealth,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  good  Use  of  life, 
is  in  persuasive  faith,  v/hich  is  from  himself,  not  from 
the  Lord.  There  are  also  theoretical  truths  of  faith, 
and  there  are  practical  truths;  he  who  respects  the 
theoretical  for  the  sake  of  the  practical,  and  sees  the 
former  in  the  latter,  and  thus  from  both  conjoined  re- 
gards good  Use  of  life,  and  is  affected  both  with  the 
former  and  with  the  latter  for  the  sake  of  this  end, 
he  is  in  faith  from  the  Lord ;  the  reason  is,  because 
according  to  Use  of  life  all  things  are  formed ;  the 
truths  of  faith  are  those  by  which  formation  is  effected. 
That  this  is  the  case,  is  very  manifest  from  those  who 
are  in  the  other  life;  all,  there,  are  reduced  to  the  state 
of  their  good,  or  to  the  state  of  their  evil,  thus  to  the 
Use  of  their  life,  which  was  their  end,  that  is,  which 
they  had  loved  above  all  things,  and  which  hence  had 
been  the  very  delight  of  their  life ;  to  this  all  are  re- 
duced; the  truths  or  falses,  which  had  made  one  with 
that  Use,  remain,  and  also  more  are  learnt,  which  con- 
join themselves  with  the  former,  and  complete  the  Use, 
and  cause  the  Use  to  appear  in  its  own  essential  form. 
Hence  it  is  that  spirits  and  angels  are  forms  of  their 
Use,  evil  spirits  the  forms  of  an  evil  Use,  these  are  in 
hell ;  good  spirits  or  angels  the  forms  of  good  Use,  these 
are  in  heaven ;  hence  also  it  is,  that  spirits  are  instantly 
known  as  to  their  quality  by  their  presence,  the  truths 
of  faith  being  seen  from  the  face  and  its  beauty  as  to 
form,  and  the  good  itself,  which  is  the  L^se,  from  the 
fire  of  love  therein  which  vivifies  the  beauty,  and  also 
from  the  sphere  which  flows  from  them.    A.  C.  9297. 

43 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 


USE    RULES    IN    FORMS 


When  he  wills  to  do  this  or  that,  and  to  act  thus  or 
otherwise,  and  makes  it  the  subject  of  his  thought, 
then  the  organs  move  themselves  agreeably  thereto, 
thus  according  to  the  intention  of  the  function  or  Use; 
for  it  is  Use  which  rules  in  forms.  Hence  also  it  is 
manifest  that  before  the  organic  forms  of  the  body 
existed,  Use  was,  and  that  Use  produced  and  adapted 
them  to  itself,  but  not  vice  versa;  but  when  the  forms 
are  produced,  or  the  organs  adapted,  Uses  thence  pro- 
ceed, and  in  this  case  it  appears  as  if  the  forms  or  organs 
are  prior  to  the  Use,  when  yet  it  is  not  so ;  for  Use  flows 
in  from  the  Lord,  and  this  through  heaven,  according 
to  the  order  and  according  to  the  form  in  which  hea- 
ven is  arranged  by  the  Lord,  thus  according  to  cor- 
respondences.    A.  C.  4223,  M.  R. 

I.OVE,    WISDOM,    AND    USE    CANNOT    BE    SEPARATED 

Love  and  wisdom  without  Use  are  not  any  thing,  they 
are  only  ideal  entities,  nor  do  they  become  real  until 
they  are  fixed  in  Use;  for  love,  wisdom,  and  Use,  are 
three  things  which  cannot  be  separated ;  for  if  they  are 
separated  each  is  reduced  to  nothing;  love  is  nothing 
without  wisdom,  but  in  wisdom  it  is  formed  for  some- 
thing, which  something  is  Use,  wherefore  when  love  by 
wisdom  is  in  Use,  then  it  is  something,  yea,  it  then  really 
is:  they  are  exactly  like  end,  cause,  and  effect;  the  end 
is  not  any  thing  unless  it  exists  by  the  cause  in  the  eff*ect ; 
and  if  any  one  of  the  three  be  destroyed,  the  whole  is 
destroyed,  and  becomes  as  nothing.     It  is  the  same  with 

44 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

charity,  faith,  and  works;  charity  without  faith  is 
nothing,  nor  is  faith  any  thing  without  charity,  nor  are 
charity  and  faith  any  thing  without  works,  but  in  works 
they  become  something,  the  quahty  of  which  something 
is  according  to  the  Use  of  those  works.  It  is  the  same 
with  affection,  thought,  and  operation;  and  also  with 
will,  understanding,  and  action.    A.  C.  875. 


ALL    CAUSES    SPIRITUAL 

What  is  natural  cannot  possibl}^  have  existence,  except 
from  a  cause  prior  to  itself;  this  cause  is  of  spiritual 
origin,  and  there  is  nothing  natural  which  doth  not 
thence  derive  the  cause  of  its  existence:  natural  forms 
are  effects,  nor  can  they  appear  as  causes,  still  less  as 
causes  of  causes,  or  principles,  but  they  receive  their 
forms  according  to  their  Use  in  the  place  where  they 
are;  still  however  the  forms  of  effects  represent  the 
things  appertaining  to  their  causes ;  yea,  these  latter 
things  represent  those  which  appertain  to  their  princi- 
ples ;  thus  all  natural  things  represent  the  things  ap- 
pertaining to  the  spiritual,  to  which  they  correspond: 
and  spiritual  things  also  represent  the  things  appertain- 
ing to  the  celestial,  from  which  they  are  derived.  A. 
C.  2991,  M.  R. 

CELESTIAL    THINGS     OF     GOOD,     SPIRITUAL 
THINGS    OF     TRUTH 

Gen.  xxiv.  52-54.  In  the  Lord's  kingdom  there  are 
things  celestial  and  things  spiritual,  and  celestial  things 
are  of  good,  and  spiritual  things  are  of  truth  thence 

45 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

derived:  there  is  nothing  in  the  universe  which  has 
not  relation  to  good  and  to  truth;  whatever  apper- 
tains to  Use  and  to  life,  has  relation  to  good,  but  what- 
ever appertains  to  doctrine  and  science,  especially  in 
things  regarding  Use  and  life,  has  relation  to  truth. 
A.  C.  3166. 

LOVE    AND    WISDOM    WITHOUT    USE 

Love  and  wisdom  without  Use  are  only  ideas  of  ab- 
stract thought,  which  also,  after  some  stay  in  the  mind, 
pass  on  as  winds ;  but  those  two  are  collected  in  Use,  and 
there  become  one,  which  is  called  real;  love  cannot  be 
easy  unless  it  is  doing,  for  love  is  the  active  itself  of 
life;  neither  can  wisdom  exist  and  subsist  unless  when 
it  is  doing  from  love  and  with  it,  and  to  do  is  Use ; 
wherefore  we  define  Use,  that  it  is  to  do  good  from  love 
by  means  of  wisdom;  Use  is  good  itself.  Since  those 
three,  love,  wisdom,  and  Use,  flow  into  the  souls  of  men, 
it  may  be  evident  whence  it  is  that  it  is  said,  that  every 
thing  good  is  from  God,  for  every  thing  done  from  love 
by  means  of  wisdom  is  called  good,  and  Use  also  is 
what  is  done.  What  is  love  without  wisdom  but  some- 
tliing  fatuous?  and  what  is  love  with  wisdom  without 
Use  but  a  breath?  Indeed  love  and  wisdom  with  Use 
not  only  make  man,  but  also  are  man;  yea,  what  per- 
haps ye  will  wonder  at,  they  propagate  man,  for  in  the 
seed  of  the  man  is  his  soul  in  a  perfect  human  form, 
covered  with  substances  from  the  purest  things  of  na- 
ture, out  of  which  a  body  is  formed  in  the  womb  of  the 
mother ;  this  Use  is  the  supreme  and  ultimate  Use  of  the 
divine  love  by  means  of  the  divine  wisdom.     C.  L.  183. 

46 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


SERVING    THE    LORD    IS    PERFORMING    USES 

Gen.  IV.  21-23.  The  ground  and  reason  why  to  serve 
the  Lord  denotes  to  perform  Uses,  is,  because  true  wor- 
ship consists  in  the  performance  of  Uses,  thus  in  exer- 
cises of  charity :  he  who  beheves  that  the  service  of  the 
Lord  consists  solely  in  frequenting  the  temple,  in  hear- 
ing preaching  there,  and  in  praying,  and  that  this  is 
sufficient,  is  much  deceived ;  the  real  worship  of  the  Lord 
consists  in  performing  Uses ;  and  Uses  consist  during 
man's  life  in  the  world,  in  every  one  discharging  aright 
his  function  in  his  respective  station,  thus  in  serving 
his  country,  society,  and  his  neighbour,  from  the  heart, 
and  in  acting  with  sincerity  in  all  his  associations,  and 
in  performing  duties  prudently  according  to  the  quality 
of  each ;  these  Uses  are  principally  the  exercises  of  char- 
ity, and  those  whereby  the  Lord  is  principally  wor- 
shipped; frequenting  the  temple,  hearing  sermons,  and 
saying  praj^ers  are  also  necessary  things,  but  without 
the  above  Uses  they  avail  nothing,  for  they  are  not  of 
the  life,  but  teach  what  the  quality  of  the  life  should 
be.  The  angels  in  heaven  have  all  happiness  from  Uses, 
and  according  to  Uses,  insomuch  that  Uses  are  to  them 
heaven.     A.  C.  9296. 

USE    IS    RECOMPENSE 

Gen.  xlix.  15.  "  Whosoever  of  you  willeth  to  he  chief 
shall  be  the  servant  of  all;  for  the  Son  of  Man  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,''  Mark  x.  35  to 
45.     And  that  they  who  do  good  without  a  view  to  rcc- 

47 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 

ompense,  have  heaven,  he  teaches  in  Luke,  *^ Every  one 
ivlio  exalteth  himself  shall  he  humbled,  but  he  who  hum- 
bleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.  When  thou  makest  a 
dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends,  nor  thy  breth- 
ren, nor  thy  kinsmen,  nor  rich  neighbours,  lest  they 
also  bid  thee  again,  and  a  recompense  be  made  thee: 
but  when  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor,  the  maimed, 
the  halt,  the  blind,  then  thou  shalt  be  blessed,  for  they 
cannot  recompense  thee;  for  thou  shalt  be  recompensed 
at  the  resurrection  of  the  just/'  xiv.  11  to  14;  the  rec- 
ompense in  the  resurrection  of  the  just  is  internal  happi- 
ness from  doing  well  without  recompense,  which  hap- 
piness they  receive  from  the  Lord  when  they  perform 
Uses ;  and  they  who  love  to  serve  without  recompense, 
in  proportion  as  such  love  increases,  are  appointed  to 
preside  over  more  noble  Uses,  and  actually  become 
greater  and  more  powerful  than  others.  They  who  do 
good  works  with  a  view  to  recompense,  say  also,  because 
they  know  from  the  Word,  that  they  are  willing  to  be 
the  least  in  heaven,  but  at  the  time  they  think,  by  so 
saying,  to  become  great;  thus  they  are  still  influenced 
by  the  same  end:  but  they  who  do  good  without  recom- 
pense, do  not  actually  think  about  being  eminent,  but 
only  about  being  serviceable.    A.  C.  6393. 

THE  USE  OF  WEALTH  AND  HONOURS 

The  Lord  never  withholds  a  man  from  seeking  after 
honours  and  acquiring  wealth,  but  from  the  cupidity 
of  seeking  after  honours  for  the  sake  of  eminence  only, 
or  for  the  sake  of  self;  in  like  manner,  from  acquiring 
wealth  for  the  sake  of  opulence  only,  or  for  the  sake 

48 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

of  the  wealth ;  but  when  he  withdraws  a  man  from  these, 
he  introduces  him  into  the  love  of  Uses,  that  he  may 
respect  eminence,  not  for  the  sake  of  self,  but  for  the 
sake  of  Uses,  therefore,  that  it  may  be  of  Uses  and 
thence  of  himself,  and  not  first  of  himself  and  thence 
of  Uses :  the  same  is  true  in  regard  to  opulence.  That 
the  Lord  continually  humbles  the  proud,  and  exalts  the 
humble,  he  himself  teaches  in  many  places  of  the  Word ; 
and  what  he  there  teaches,  that  also  is  of  his  Divine 
Providence.     D.  P. 


OFFICES    AND    HONOURS    IX    HEAVEN 

Angels,  when  they  are  with  men,  as  it  were  dwell  in 
their  affections,  and  are  near  a  man  so  far  as  he  is  in 
good  from  truths,  but  are  more  remote  in  proportion 
as  his  life  is  distant  from  good.  But  all  these  functions 
of  the  angels  are  functions  of  the  Lord,  through  the 
angels,  for  the  angels  discharge  them,  not  from  them- 
selves, but  from  the  Lord.  Hence  it  is,  that  by  angels, 
in  the  Word,  in  its  internal  sense  are  not  understood 
angels,  but  something  of  the  Lord ;  and  hence  it  is  that 
angels,  in  the  Word,  are  called  gods. 

These  functions  of  the  angels  are  their  general  func- 
tions, but  every  one  has  his  particular  charge ;  for  every 
general  Use  is  composed  of  innumerable  ones,  which 
are  called  mediate,  administering,  subservient  Uses.  All 
and  each  are  co-ordinated  and  sub-ordinated  according 
to  divine  order,  and  taken  together  make  and  perfect 
the  general  Use,  which  is  the  general  good. 

In  ecclesiastical  affairs  are  those  in  heaven,  who  in 
the  world  loved  the  Word,  and  from  desire  sought  for 

49 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

the  truths  there,  not  for  the  sake  of  honour  or  gain, 
but  for  the  sake  of  Use  of  life,  both  for  themselves  and 
others.  These,  according  to  the  love  and  desire  of  Use, 
are  there  in  illustration  and  in  the  light  of  wisdom, 
into  which  also  they  come  from  the  Word  in  the  heavens, 
which  is  not  natural  as  in  the  world,  but  spiritual. 
These  perform  the  office  of  preachers,  and  there  ac- 
cording to  divine  order  those  are  in  a  superior  place, 
who  from  illustration  excel  others  in  wisdom.  In  civil 
affairs  are  those  who  in  the  world  loved  their  coun- 
try and  its  general  good  in  preference  to  their  own, 
and  did  what  is  just  and  right  from  the  love  of  what 
is  just  and  right.  As  far  as  these  from  the  desire  of 
love  investigated  the  laws  of  what  is  just,  and  thereby 
became  intelligent,  so  far  they  are  in  the  faculty  of  ad- 
ministering offices  in  heaven,  and  administer  them  in 
that  place  or  degree  in  which  their  intelligence  is:  this 
also  is  then  in  an  equal  degree  with  the  love  of  Use  for 
the  general  good.  Moreover,  in  heaven  there  are  so 
many  offices  and  so  many  administrations,  and  so  many 
employments  also,  that  they  cannot  be  enumerated  on 
account  of  their  abundance ;  in  the  world  there  are  com- 
paratively few.  All,  how  many  soever  there  be,  are  in 
the  delight  of  their  work  and  labour  from  the  love  of 
Use,  and  no  one  from  the  love  of  self  or  of  gain.  Nor 
has  any  one  the  love  of  gain  on  account  of  life,  because 
all  the  necessaries  of  life  are  given  to  them  gratuitously ; 
they  are  housed  gratuitously,  they  are  clothed  gratu- 
itously, and  they  are  fed  gratuitously.  Hence  it  is 
evident  that  those  who  have  loved  themselves  and  the 
world  more  than  Use,  have  not  any  lot  in  heaven;  for 
every  one's  own  love  or  own  affection  remains  with  him 

50 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

after  his  life  in  the  world,  nor  is  it  extirpated  to  eternity. 
H.  H.  392,  393,  394. 

WHY    THE    WICKED    ARE    ADVANCED    TO     HONOURS 
AND    WEALTH 

The  reason  why  the  wicked  as  well  as  the  good  are  ad- 
vanced to  honours  and  promoted  to  wealth,  is,  because 
the  wicked  as  well  as  the  good  perforai  LTses ;  but  the 
wicked  do  so  for  the  sake  of  the  honour  and  interest  of 
their  own  persons,  and  the  good  for  the  sake  of  the 
honour  and  interest  of  the  thing  itself.  The  latter 
respect  the  honour  and  interest  of  the  thing  itself  as 
principal  causes,  and  the  honour  and  interest  of  their 
own  persons  as  instrumental  causes ;  but  the  wicked 
respect  the  honour  and  interest  of  their  own  persons 
as  principal  causes,  and  the  honour  and  interest  of  the 
thing  itself  as  instrumental  causes.  .  .  .  Persons,  in- 
deed, who  are  in  dignity  in  heaven,  are  in  magnificence 
and  glory,  like  that  of  kings  upon  earth;  but  yet  they 
do  not  regard  the  dignity  itself  as  any  thing,  but  the 
Uses,  in  the  exercise  and  administration  of  which  they 
are  engaged.  They  receive  every  one  the  honours  of 
his  dignity,  but  they  do  not  attribute  them  to  them- 
selves, but  to  the  Uses  :  and  as  all  Uses  are  from  the  Lord, 
they  attribute  them  to  the  Lord,  from  whom  they  are 
derived.  Such  therefore  are  spiritual  dignities  and 
riches,  which  are  eternal.  But  it  is  otherwise  with 
those  to  whom  dignities  and  riches  in  this  world  were 
curses.  These,  since  they  attributed  them  to  them- 
selves, and  not  to  Uses,  and  since  they  did  not  desire 
that  Uses  should  govern  them,  but  that  they  should  gov- 

51 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

ern  Uses,  which  the}^  only  regarded  as  such  so  far  as  they 
were  subserv^ient  to  their  own  honour  and  glory,  are 
therefore  in  hell,  where  they  are  vile  drudges  in  con- 
tempt and  misery;  for  which  reason,  as  these  dignities 
and  riches  perish,  they  are  called  temporary  and  per- 
ishing. Concerning  both  the  latter  and  the  former  the 
Lord  teaches  as  follows :  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  corrupt,  and 
where  thieves  break  through  and  steal:  but  lay  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor 
rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not  break 
through  nor  steal:  for  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will 
your  heart  be  also."    D.  P.  217. 

WHY    SOME    RICH    ARE    IN    HELL 

But  contrary  is  the  lot  of  the  rich  who  have  not  believed 
in  the  Divine,  and  have  rejected  from  their  mind  the 
things  which  are  of  heaven  and  the  church;  they  are 
in  hell,  where  are  filth,  misery,  and  want.  Into  such 
things  riches  are  changed  which  are  loved  as  an  end ; 
nor  only  riches,  but  also  the  Uses  of  them,  which  are 
either  that  they  may  live  as  they  like  and  indulge  in 
pleasures,  and  may  be  able  to  give  up  the  mind  more 
abundantly  and  freely  to  the  commission  of  wickedness, 
or  that  they  may  rise  above  others,  whom  they  despise. 
Such  riches,  and  such  Uses,  because  they  have  nothing 
spiritual  in  them,  but  only  what  is  earthly,  become  filthy. 
They  also  become  putrid  as  a  body  without  a  soul,  and 
as  moist  ground  without  the  light  of  heaven.  These  are 
they  whom  riches  have  seduced  and  withdrawn  from 
heaven.     H.  H.  362. 

52 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 


USES    ARE    SUBORDINATED    ACCORDING    TO    DI\aNE    ORDER 

All  things  in  the  heavens  are  instituted  according  to 
divine  order,  which  is  every  where  guarded  by  adminis- 
trations executed  by  the  angels ;  by  the  wiser,  those 
things  which  are  of  the  general  good  or  Use,  by  the  less 
wise,  those  which  are  of  particular  L^se,  and  so  forth. 
They  are  subordinated,  just  as  in  divine  order  Uses  are 
subordinated.  Hence  also  dignity  is  adjoined  to  every 
function,  according  to  the  dignity  of  the  Use;  but  still 
an  angel  does  not  claim  dignity  to  himself,  but  ascribes 
all  to  the  Use;  and  because  Use  is  the  good  which  he 
performs,  and  all  good  is  from  the  Lord,  therefore  he 
ascribes  all  to  the  Lord.  For  this  reason,  he  who  thinks 
of  honour  for  himself  and  then  for  Use,  and  not  for 
L^se  and  then  for  himself,  cannot  perform  any  office  in 
heaven,  because  he  looks  backward  from  the  Lord,  re- 
garding himself  in  the  first  place,  and  Use  in  the  second. 
When  Use  is  mentioned,  the  Lord  also  is  understood, 
because,  as  was  said  just  above.  Use  is  good,  and  good 
is  from  the  Lord.    H.  H.  369. 


DIGNITIES    SUBSERVIENT     TO     USES,    NOT    USES 
TO     DIGNITIES 

Dignities  with  their  honours  are  natural  and  tempo- 
rary, when  a  man  has  respect  to  himself  personally  in 
them,  and  not  to  the  state  and  Uses ;  for  then  he  cannot 
but  think  interiorly  with  himself,  that  the  state  is  for 
the  sake  of  him,  and  not  he  for  the  state.  He  is  like  a 
king  who  thinks  that  his  kingdom  and  all  the  people 

53 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

in  it  are  for  him,  and  not  he  for  the  kingdom  and  the 
people  of  which  it  consists.  But  the  same  dignities  with 
their  honours  are  spiritual  and  eternal,  when  a  man 
considers  himself  personally  as  subservient  to  the  state 
and  to  Uses,  and  not  them  to  him.  If  he  does  this,  he 
is  in  the  truth  and  in  the  essence  of  his  dignity  and 
honour,  but  if  the  other,  in  which  he  confirms  himself, 
he  is  in  fallacies,  and  no  otherwise  in  conjunction  with 
the  Lord  than  as  those  who  are  in  falsities  and  evils 
derived  therefrom;  for  fallacies  are  falsities  with  which 
evils  join  themselves.     D.  P.  220. 

RULERS    WHO     PERFORM     USES    WITHOUT     LOVE 
TO     THE     NEIGHBOUR 

Love  shown  toward  a  society  is  love  toward  our  neigh- 
bour in  greater  fulness  than  when  it  is  shown  only 
toward  a  single  or  individual  man,  is  evident  from  this 
circumstance,  that  dignities  are  assigned  to  governors 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  societies  subject  to  their 
government,  and  honours  are  annexed  to  them  accord- 
ing to  the  extent  of  the  Uses  they  perform.  There  are 
in  the  world  superior  and  inferior  offices,  subordinate 
to  each  other,  as  their  authority  over  societies  is  more 
or  less  universal,  and  he  whose  authority  is  most  univer- 
sal is  called  the  king ;  and  every  one  receives  recompense, 
glory,  and  the  love  of  the  community,  in  proportion 
to  the  extent  of  his  office,  and  the  good  Uses  which  he 
performs.  It  is  possible  however  for  governors  here 
below  to  perform  Uses,  and  to  provide  for  the  welfare  of 
society,  and  yet  to  have  no  real  love  toward  their  neigh- 
bour; this  is  the  case  with  those  who,  in  the  exercise 

54 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

of  their  public  functions,  regard  only  the  world  and 
themselves,  and  do  good  merely  to  appear  good,  or  to 
deserve  further  distinction  and  pre-eminence.  Such 
persons,  although  they  are  not  discerned  in  this  world, 
are  yet  discerned  in  heaven,  where  they  are  rejected 
from  holding  any  office  or  dignity ;  while  those  who  had 
done  and  promoted  Uses  from  a  principle  of  love  to- 
ward their  neighbour,  are  exalted  as  rulers  over  hea- 
venly societies,  and  enjoy  proportionable  honour  and 
magnificence:  these,  however,  do  not  place  their  hearts 
and  affections  in  honour  and  magnificence,  but  in  the 
Uses  which  they  are  thus  enabled  to  effect.    T.  412. 

THE     LOVE     OF     DIGNITIES     AND     HONOURS     FOR 
SELF    AND    FOR    USE 

The  love  of  dignities  and  honours  for  the  sake  of  dig- 
nities and  honours,  is  the  love  of  self,  properly  the  love 
of  dominion  arising  from  the  love  of  self;  and  the  love 
of  riches  and  wealth,  for  the  sake  of  riches  and  wealth, 
is  the  love  of  the  world,  properly  the  love  of  possessing 
the  goods  of  others  by  any  art  whatever:  but  the  love 
of  dignities  and  riches  for  the  sake  of  Uses,  is  the  love 
of  Uses,  which  is  the  same  with  the  love  of  our  neigh- 
bour; for  that  for  the  sake  of  which  a  man  acts,  is 
the  end  which  he  has  in  view,  and  is  first  or  primary, 
while  other  things  are  means,  and  are  secondary.  With 
respect  to  the  love  of  dignities  and  honours  for  their 
own  sakes,  which  is  the  same  with  self-love,  properly 
with  the  love  of  dominion  from  the  love  of  self,  it  is  the 
love  of  a  man's  proprium,  and  a  man's  proprium  is 
all  evil.     Hence  it  is  that  a  man  is  said  to  be  born  in  all 

55 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

evil,  and  that  his  hereditary  disposition  is  nothing  but 
evil.  A  man's  hereditary  disposition  is  his  proprium, 
in  which  he  is,  and  into  which  he  comes  by  self-love, 
principally  by  the  love  of  dominion  grounded  in  the  love 
of  self;  for  the  man  who  is  principled  in  that  love,  has 
respect  to  nothing  but  himself,  and  so  immerses  his 
thoughts  and  affections  into  his  proprium.  Hence  it 
is  that  in  the  love  of  self  there  dwells  a  love  of  doing 
evil;  the  reason  of  which  is,  that  the  man  does  not  love 
his  neighbour,  but  himself  only;  and  he  who  loves  him- 
self alone,  sees  others  as  without  himself,  or  as  vile,  or 
of  no  account,  and  despises  them  in  comparison  with 
himself,  whilst  he  makes  light  of  doing  them  mischief. 
It  is  from  this  cause  that  he  who  is  in  the  love  of  do- 
minion from  the  love  of  self  scruples  not  to  defraud  his 
neighbour,  to  commit  adultery  with  his  neighbour's  wife, 
to  slander  him,  to  breathe  revenge  against  him  even  unto 
death,  to  treat  him  cruelly,  and  the  like.  A  man  derives 
such  evil  dispositions  from  this  circumstance,  that  the 
devil  himself,  with  whom  every  one  principled  in  self- 
love  is  conjoined,  and  by  whom  he  is  led,  is  nothing 
else  than  the  love  of  dominion  from  the  love  of  self; 
and  he  who  is  led  of  the  devil,  that  is,  of  hell,  is  led  into 
all  the  above  evils,  and  is  continually  led  by  the  delights 
of  those  evils.  Hence  it  is,  that  all  who  are  in  hell 
have  a  desire  to  do  mischief  to  every  one;  but  those 
who  are  in  heaven  have  a  desire  to  do  good  to  every  one. 
With  respect  to  dignities  and  riches,  however,  that  are 
loved  not  for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  Uses, 
such  love  is  not  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches,  but  the 
love  of  Uses,  to  which  dignities  and  riches  are  subser- 
vient as  means ;  and  this  love  is  celestial :  but  of  it  more 

56 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

in  what  follows.  That  those  two  loves  are  distinct 
from  each  other  as  heaven  and  hell,  is  evident  from 
what  has  now  been  said;  to  which  I  will  add,  that  all 
those  who  are  in  the  love  of  dominion  from  the  love 
of  self,  whoever  they  be,  whether  great  or  small,  are  in 
hell  as  to  their  spirit ;  and  that  all  who  are  in  that  love, 
are  in  the  love  of  all  evils,  which  if  they  do  not  commit, 
they  still  in  their  spirit  think  them  allowable,  and  there- 
fore do  them  in  the  body,  when  the  consideration  of 
dignity  and  honour,  and  the  fear  of  the  law,  do  not  pre- 
vent. And  what  is  more,  the  love  of  dominion  from  the 
love  of  self  conceals  deeply  within  it  hatred  against  God, 
consequently  against  the  divine  things  of  the  church, 
and  especially  against  the  Lord.  If  persons  influenced 
by  this  love  acknowledge  a  God,  they  do  it  only  with 
their  mouths ;  and  if  they  acknowledge  the  divine  things 
of  the  church,  they  do  it  only  for  fear  of  losing  credit. 
The  reason  why  this  love  inmostly  conceals  in  it  hatred 
against  the  Lord,  is,  because  it  is  the  inmost  tendency 
of  it  to  desire  to  be  a  god,  for  it  worships  and  adores 
itself  alone ;  hence  it  is,  that  if  any  one  honours  it  so 
much  as  to  say  that  it  has  divine  wisdom,  and  is  the  deity 
of  the  world,  it  loves  such  a  one  in  its  heart.  It  is  other- 
wise with  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  the  sake  of 
Uses;  for  this  love  is  celestial,  because,  as  has  been 
obsers^ed,  it  is  the  same  with  the  love  of  our  neighbour. 
By  Uses  are  meant  goods,  and  therefore  by  perform- 
ing Uses,  is  meant  doing  good;  and  by  doing  Uses  or 
good,  is  meant  serving  others  and  ministering  to  them. 
Those  who  do  so,  although  they  are  in  dignity  and 
opulence,  yet  respect  such  dignity  and  opulence  only 
as  means  of  performing  Uses,  consequently  of  serving 

57 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

and  ministering.  These  are  those  who  are  meant  by 
these  words  of  the  Lord :  "  Whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister;  and  whosoever 
will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant " 
(Matt.  XX.  26,  27).  These  also  are  those  to  whom  do- 
minion in  heaven  is  entrusted  by  the  Lord;  for  to  them 
dominion  is  the  means  of  performing  Uses,  or  doing 
good,  consequently  of  serving;  and  when  Uses  or  good 
are  the  ends,  or  objects  of  the  love,  then  it  is  not  they 
who  have  dominion,  but  the  Lord,  for  all  good  is  from 
him.  That  the  difference  between  them  is  difficult  to  be 
known,  is,  because  most  of  those  who  are  in  dignity 
and  opulence  also  perform  Uses;  but  it  is  not  known 
whether  they  perform  them  for  the  sake  of  themselves, 
or  for  the  sake  of  the  Uses ;  and  the  less  so,  because  in 
the  love  of  self  and  of  the  world,  there  is  more  of  the 
fire  and  ardour  of  performing  Uses  than  in  those  who 
are  not  in  the  love  of  self  and  the  world.  The  former, 
however,  perform  Uses  for  the  sake  of  fame  or  interest, 
therefore  for  the  sake  of  themselves ;  but  those  who  per- 
form Uses  for  the  sake  of  Uses,  or  good  for  the  sake 
of  good,  do  not  perform  them  from  themselves,  but 
from  the  Lord.  The  difference  between  them  is  difficult 
to  be  known  by  a  man,  because  he  does  not  know  whether 
he  is  led  by  the  devil  or  the  Lord.  He  who  is  led  by  the 
devil,  performs  Uses  for  the  sake  of  himself  and  the 
world ;  but  he  who  is  led  by  the  Lord,  does  it  for  the  sake 
of  the  Lord  and  of  heaven;  and  all  those  perform 
Uses  from  the  Lord  who  shun  evils  as  sins,  while  all  those 
perform  Uses  from  the  devil  who  do  not  shun  evils  as 
sins;  for  evil  is  the  devil,  and  Use  or  good  is  the  Lord. 
A.  C. 

58 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


THE    DELIGHT     OF     BEING    USEFUL 

Heavenly  joy  consists  in  the  delight  of  doing  some- 
thing that  is  useful  to  ourselves  and  others ;  which  de- 
light derives  its  essence  from  love  and  its  existence  from 
wisdom.  The  delight  of  being  useful,  originating  in 
love,  and  operating  by  wisdom,  is  the  very  soul  and  life 
of  all  heavenly  joys.  In  the  heavens  there  are  frequent 
occasions  of  cheerful  intercourse  and  conversation, 
whereby  the  minds  (mentes)  of  the  angels  are  exhilar- 
ated, their  minds  (animi)  entertained,  their  bosoms  de- 
lighted, and  their  bodies  refreshed;  but  such  occasions 
do  not  occur,  till  they  have  fulfilled  their  appointed 
Uses  in  the  discharge  of  their  respective  business  and 
duties.  It  is  this  fulfilling  of  Uses  that  gives  soul  and 
life  to  all  their  delights  and  entertainments ;  and  if  this 
soul  and  life  be  taken  away,  the  contributory  joys  grad- 
ually cease,  first  exciting  indifference,  then  disgust,  and 
lastly  sorrow  and  anxiety.     M.  5. 

PARADISIACAL    DELIGHTS 

Heavenly  joy  and  eternal  happiness  thence  derived  do 
not  consist  in  external  paradisiacal  delights,  unless  they 
are  also  attended  with  internal.  External  paradisiacal 
delights  reach  only  the  senses  of  the  body;  but  internal 
paradisiacal  delights  reach  the  affections  of  the  soul; 
and  the  former  without  the  latter  are  devoid  of  all 
heavenly  life,  because  they  are  devoid  of  soul ;  and  every 
delight  without  its  corresponding  soul,  continuall}^  grows 
more  and  more  languid  and  dull,  and  fatigues  the  mind 

59 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

more  than  labour.  There  are  in  every  part  of  heaven 
paradisiacal  gardens,  in  which  the  angels  find  much  joy; 
and  so  far  as  it  is  attended  with  a  delight  of  the  soul, 
the  joy  is  real  and  true.  The  delight  of  the  soul  is  de- 
rived from  love  and  wisdom  proceeding  from  the  Lord; 
and  as  love  is  operative,  and  that  b}'  means  of  wisdom, 
therefore  they  are  both  fixed  together  in  the  effect  of 
such  operation :  which  effect  is  L^se.  This  delight  enters 
into  the  soul  by  influx  from  the  Lord,  and  descends 
through  the  superior  and  inferior  regions  of  the  mind 
into  all  the  senses  of  the  body,  and  in  them  is  full  and 
complete;  becoming  hereby  a  true  joy,  and  partaking 
of  an  eternal  nature  from  the  eternal  fountain  whence 
it  proceeds.  You  have  just  now  seen  a  paradisiacal  gar- 
den ;  and  I  can  assure  you  that  there  is  not  a  single  thing 
therein,  even  the  smallest  leaf,  which  does  not  exist  from 
the  marriage  of  love  and  wisdom  in  Use;  wherefore  if 
a  man  be  in  this  marriage,  he  is  in  a  celestial  paradise, 
and  therefore  in  heaven.     M.  8. 


HEAVENLY     JOYS     FROM     STATE,     XOT     PEACE 

The  joys  of  heaven  and  eternal  happiness  arise  not 
from  the  place,  but  from  the  state  of  the  man's  life; 
and  a  state  of  heavenly  life  is  derived  from  love  and 
wisdom ;  and  since  it  is  Use  which  contains  love  and 
wisdom,  and  in  which  they  are  fixed  and  subsist,  there- 
fore a  state  of  heavenly  life  is  derived  from  the  con- 
junction of  love  and  wisdom  in  L^se.  It  amounts  to  the 
same  if  we  call  them  charity,  faith,  and  good  works; 
for  charity  is  love,  faith  is  truth  whence  wisdom  is  de- 
rived, and  good  works  are  Uses.     Moreover  in  our  spiri- 

60 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

tual  world  there  are  places  as  in  the  natural  world: 
otherwise  there  could  be  no  habitations  and  distinct 
abodes :  nevertheless  place  with  us  is  not  place,  but  an 
appearance  of  place  according  to  the  state  of  love  and 
wisdom,  or  of  charity  and  faith.  Every  one  who  becomes 
an  angel,  carries  his  own  heaven  within  himself,  be- 
cause he  carries  in  himself  the  love  of  his  own  heaven : 
for  a  man  from  creation  is  the  smallest  effigy,  image,  and 
type  of  the  great  heaven,  and  the  human  form  is  no- 
thing else ;  wherefore  every  one  after  death  comes  into 
that  society  of  heaven  of  whose  general  form  he  is  an 
individual  effigy ;  consequently,  when  he  enters  into  that 
society  he  enters  into  a  form  corresponding  to  his  own ; 
thus  he  passes  as  it  were  from  himself  unto  that  form 
as  into  another  self,  and  again  from  that  other  self 
into  the  same  form  in  himself,  and  enjoys  his  own  life 
in  that  of  the  society,  and  that  of  the  society  in  his  own ; 
for  every  society  in  heaven  may  be  considered  as  one 
common  body,  and  the  constituent  angels  as  the  similar 
parts  thereof,  from  which  the  common  body  exists. 
Hence  it  follows,  that  those  who  are  in  evils,  and  thence 
in  falses,  have  formed  in  themselves  an  effigy  of  hell, 
which  suffers  torment  in  heaven  from  the  influx  and 
violent  activity  of  one  opposite  upon  another:  for  in- 
fernal love  is  opposite  to  heavenly  love,  and  consequently 
the  delights  of  those  two  loves  are  in  a  state  of  discord 
and  enmity,  and  whenever  they  meet  they  endeavour 
to  destroy  each  other.    M.  10. 


61 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 


THE    DELIGHTS    OF    THE    BODILY    SENSES 

What  are  the  delights  of  the  bodily  senses  without 
those  of  the  soul?  The  former  are  animated  by  the 
latter.  The  delights  of  the  soul  in  themselves  are  im- 
perceptible beatitudes ;  but,  as  they  descend  into  the 
thoughts  of  the  mind,  and  thence  into  the  sensations  of 
the  body,  they  become  more  and  more  perceptible;  in 
the  thoughts  of  the  mind  they  are  perceived  as  satis- 
factions, in  the  sensations  of  the  body  as  delights,  and  in 
the  body  itself  as  pleasures.  Eternal  happiness  is  de- 
rived from  the  latter  and  the  former  taken  together; 
but  from  the  latter  alone  there  results  a  happiness  not 
eternal,  but  temporary,  which  quickly  comes  to  an  end 
and  passes  away,  and  in  some  cases  becomes  unhappi- 
ness.  You  have  now  seen  that  all  your  joys  are  also 
joys  of  heaven,  and  that  these  are  far  more  excellent 
than  you  could  have  conceived;  yet  such  joys  do  not 
inwardly  affect  our  minds.  There  are  three  things  which 
enter  by  influx  from  the  Lord  as  a  one  into  our  souls; 
these  three  as  a  one,  or  this  trine,  are  love,  wisdom,  and 
Use.  Love  and  wisdom  of  themselves  exist  only  ideally, 
being  confined  to  the  affections  and  thoughts  of  the 
mind;  but  in  Use  they  exist  really,  because  the^^  are 
together  in  act  and  bodily  employment ;  and  where 
they  exist  really,  there  they  also  subsist.  And  as  love 
and  wisdom  exist  and  subsist  in  Use,  it  is  b}^  Use 
we  are  affected;  and  Use  consists  in  a  faithful,  sincere, 
and  diligent  discharge  of  the  duties  of  our  calling.  The 
love  of  Use,  and  a  consequent  application  to  it,  preserve 
the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  prevent  their  dispersion ; 

62 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

so  that  the  mind  is  guarded  against  wandering  and 
dissipation,  and  the  imbibing  of  false  lusts,  wliich  with 
their  enchanting  delusions  flow  in  from  the  body  and 
the  world  through  the  senses,  whereby  the  truths  of  re- 
ligion and  morality,  with  all  that  is  good  in  either,  be- 
come the  sport  of  every  wind ;  but  the  application  of  the 
mind  to  Use  binds  and  unites  those  truths  and  disposes 
the  mind  to  become  a  form  receptible  of  the  wisdom 
thence  derived;  and  in  this  case  it  extirpates  the  idle 
sports  and  pastimes  of  falsity  and  vanity,  banishing 
them  from  its  centre  toward  the  circumference.     M.  16. 


THE     PROPER    AND    IMPROPER     USE     OF     DIGNITIES 

Gen.  XXXIX.  16-18.  Spiritual  truth  and  good  desire 
that  a  man  should  not  take  pleasure  in  dignities  and 
super-eminence  above  others,  but  in  offices  done  to- 
ward his  country,  and  toward  societies  in  general  and 
in  particular;  thus  in  the  Use  of  dignities.  The 
merely  natural  man  is  altogether  ignorant  what  this 
pleasure  is,  and  denies  its  existence.  He  makes  plea- 
sure derived  from  dignities  for  the  sake  of  self,  the 
lord,  and  pleasure  derived  from  dignities  for  the  sake 
of  societies  in  general  and  particular,  the  servant ;  for  he 
himself  is  first  in  every  thing  he  does,  and  societies  after 
himself,  favouring  them  so  far  as  they  favour  him. 
Let  us  take  another  example:  if  it  be  said  that  Use  and 
end  constitute  a  thing  spiritual  or  not, — Use  and  end 
for  the  general  good,  the  church,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God,  constituting  what  is  spiritual,  but  Use  and  end 
for  the  sake  of  self  and  those  connected  with  self,  pre- 
vailing over  the  former  Use  and  end,  constituting  what 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

is  not  spiritual, — this  indeed  the  natural  man  can  ac- 
knowledge with  the  mouth,  but  not  with  the  heart ;  with 
the  mouth  instructed  from  the  intellectual  principle,  not 
with  the  heart  from  the  intellectual  principle  destroyed 
by  lusts ;  from  this  principle  he  makes  Use  and  end  for 
the  sake  of  self  a  lord,  and  Use  and  end  for  the  sake 
of  the  common  good,  of  the  church,  and  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  a  servant;  yea,  he  says  in  his  heart,  how  can  it 
possibly  be  otherwise?    A.  C.  5025. 

NO    LIFE    IN    WHAT    IS    USELESS 

Gen.  v.  7,  8.  The  life  of  love,  and  of  faith  grounded 
in  love,  such  as  the  Most  Ancient  Church  enjoyed,  is 
life  during  its  exercise  in  Use,  or  in  the  good  and  truth 
of  Use:  from  Use,  hy  Use,  and  according  to  Use,  life 
is  communicated  from  the  Lord;  there  can  be  no  life  in 
what  is  useless,  for  whatever  is  useless  is  rejected:  herein 
the  most  ancient  people  were  likenesses  of  the  Lord, 
wherefore  also  in  things  relating  to  perception  they 
became  images:  perception  consists  in  knowing  what  is 
good  and  true,  consequently  what  is  of  faith:  he  who 
is  principled  in  love,  is  not  delighted  only  in  knowing, 
but  in  doing  what  is  good  and  true,  that  is,  in  being 
useful.    A.  C. 

LOVE    OF    OUR     NEIGHBOUR     HAS    A     CELESTIAL    ORIGIN 

He  who  loves  good  because  it  is  good,  and  truth  because 
it  is  true,  pre-eminently  loves  his  neighbour;  for  he 
loves  the  Lord,  who  is  good  itself  and  truth  itself,  who 
is  the  only  source  of  the  love  of  good  and  of  truth, 

64 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

and  consequently  of  our  neighbour;  thus  love  toward 
our  neighbour  is  from  a  celestial  origin.  Whether  we 
speak  of  Use  or  of  good,  it  is  the  same  thing;  there- 
fore to  do  Uses  is  to  do  good,  and  according  to  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  Use  in  the  good  which  we  do, 
is  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  good  itself.     T.  419. 

TO    PERFORM    USE    IS    TO    WILL    WELL    TO    OTHERS 

That  so  many  various  things  in  man  act  as  one,  is 
because  there  is  not  any  thing  there  which  does  not  do 
something  for  the  common  weal,  and  perform  Use.  The 
whole  performs  Use  to  its  parts,  and  the  parts  perform 
Use  to  the  whole,  for  the  whole  is  from  the  parts,  and 
the  parts  constitute  the  whole:  thus  they  provide  for 
each  other,  they  have  respect  to  each  other,  and  are 
conjoined  in  such  a  form  that  all  and  each  have  refer- 
ence to  the  whole  and  its  good.  Hence  it  is  that  they  act 
as  one.  Similar  are  the  consociations  in  the  heavens ; 
they  are  conjoined  there  according  to  Uses  in  a  similar 
form.  Therefore  those  who  do  not  perform  Use  to  the 
whole,  are  cast  out  of  heaven,  because  they  are  things 
heterogeneous.  To  perform  Use,  is  to  will  well  to  others 
for  the  sake  of  the  common  good;  and  not  to  perform 
Use,  is  to  will  well  to  others,  not  for  the  sake  of  the 
common  good,  but  for  the  sake  of  self.  The  latter  arc 
those  who  love  themselves  above  all  things:  but  the 
former  are  those  who  love  the  Lord  above  all  things. 
Hence  it  is  that  those  who  are  in  heaven  act  as  one,  and 
this  not  from  themselves,  but  from  the  Lord ;  for  they  re- 
gard him  as  the  only  One  from  whom  [all  things  are], 
and  his  kingdom  as  the  whole,  which  is  to  be  provided 

65 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

for.  This  is  meant  by  the  words  of  the  Lord,  Seeh  ye 
-first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you  (Matt.  vi.  33).  To  seek 
his  righteousness,  is  [to  seek]  his  good.  They  who 
in  the  world  love  the  good  of  their  country  more  than 
their  own,  and  the  good  of  their  neighbour  as  their 
own,  are  those  who  in  the  other  life  love  and  seek  the 
kingdom  of  the  Lord,  for  there  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord 
is  in  the  place  of  their  country:  and  they  who  love  to 
do  good  to  others,  not  for  the  sake  of  themselves,  but 
for  the  sake  of  good,  love  the  neighbour;  for  there 
good  is  the  neighbour.    H.  H.  64. 

NATURAL    AND    SPIRITUAL    LOVE    CONTRASTED 

Spiritual  and  celestial  love  is  love  toward  the  neigh- 
hour  and  love  to  the  Lord;  and  natural  and  sensual  love 
is  love  of  the  world  and  love  of  self.  By  love  toward 
the  neighbour  we  mean  the  love  of  Uses,  and  by  love 
to  the  Lord  we  mean  the  love  of  doing  Uses,  as  was 
shown  before.  These  loves  are  spiritual  and  celestial, 
because  to  love  Uses,  and  to  do  them  from  the  love  of 
them,  is  separate  from  the  love  of  man's  proprium.  He 
that  spirituall}^  loves  Uses  has  no  respect  to  himself, 
but  to  others  without  himself,  by  whose  good  he  is  af- 
fected. The  loves  opposed  to  these  are  the  loves  of 
self  and  of  the  world,  for  these  have  no  respect  to  Use 
for  the  sake  of  others,  but  for  the  sake  of  self,  and  those 
who  do  this  invert  the  divine  order,  and  put  themselves 
in  the  place  of  the  Lord,  and  the  world  in  the  place 
of  heaven ;  hence  they  look  back  from  the  Lord  and 
from  heaven,  and  to  look  back   from  them  is  to  look 

66 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

toward  hell.  A  man  however  docs  not  feel  and  per- 
ceive the  love  of  doing  Uses  for  the  sake  of  Uses,  as 
he  does  the  love  of  doing  Uses  for  the  sake  of  self; 
hence  also  he  does  not  know,  when  he  does  Uses,  whe- 
ther he  does  them  for  the  sake  of  Use  or  for  the  sake 
of  self:  but  let  him  know  that  he  does  Uses  for  the  sake 
of  Use  in  as  far  as  he  shuns  evils;  for  in  as  far  as  he 
shuns  evils  he  does  Uses,  not  from  himself  but  from  the 
Lord.  Evil  and  good  are  opposite;  wherefore  in  as 
far  as  any  one  is  not  in  evil,  in  so  far  he  is  in  good. 
No  one  can  be  in  evil  and  good  at  the  same  time,  because 
no  one  can  serve  two  masters  at  the  same  time.  These 
observations  are  to  shew,  that  although  a  man  does 
not  sensibly  perceive  whether  the  Uses  that  he  does 
are  for  the  sake  of  Use  or  for  the  sake  of  self;  that  is, 
whether  they  are  spiritual  or  merely  natural  Uses,  still 
he  may  know  it  from  this,  whether  he  thinks  evils  are 
sins  or  not:  if  he  thinks  they  are  sins,  and  therefore 
does  them  not,  then  the  Uses  that  he  does  are  spiritual; 
and  while  he  shuns  sins  with  aversion,  he  also  begins 
to  perceive  sensibly  the  love  of  Uses  for  the  sake  of  Use, 
and  this  from  a  spiritual  delight  in  them.    D.  L.  426. 

THE   KINGDOM    OF    THE    LORD    A    KINGDOM    OF 
USES    AND    ENDS 

How  the  conjunction  of  heaven  with  the  world  is  ef- 
fected by  correspondences,  shall  also  be  told  in  a  few 
words.  The  kingdom  of  the  Lord  is  a  kingdom  of  ends 
which  are  Uses;  or  what  is  the  same,  a  kingdom  of 
Uses  which  are  ends.  Therefore  the  universe  was  so 
created  and  formed  by  the  Divine,  that  Uses  may  every- 

67 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

where  be  clothed  with  such  things  as  to  be  set  forth  in 
act  or  in  effect,  in  heaven  first,  and  then  in  the  world ; 
thus  by  degrees  and  successively  even  to  the  ultimates 
of  nature.  Hence  it  is  manifest  that  the  correspondence 
of  natural  things  with  spiritual,  or  of  the  world  with 
heaven,  is  effected  by  Uses,  and  that  Uses  conjoin;  and 
that  the  forms  with  which  Uses  are  clothed,  are  so  far 
correspondences,  and  so  far  conjunctions,  as  the}"  are 
forms  of  Uses.  In  the  nature  of  the  world,  in  its  triple 
kingdom,  all  things  which  there  exist  according  to  order, 
are  forms  of  Uses,  or  effects  formed  from  Use  for  Use ; 
wherefore  the  things  which  are  there,  are  correspon- 
dences. With  respect  to  man,  as  far  as  he  lives  accord- 
ing to  divine  order,  thus  as  far  as  in  love  to  the  Lord 
and  in  charity  toward  the  neighbour,  so  far  his  acts 
are  Uses  in  form,  and  are  correspondences,  by  which  he 
is  conjoined  to  heaven:  to  love  the  Lord  and  the  neigh- 
bour in  general  is  to  perform  Uses.     H.  H.  112. 

ACTING    JUSTLY    AND    FAITHFULLY    IS    CHARITY    AND    USE 

Charity  itself  consists  in  acting  justly  and  faithfully 
in  whatever  ofRce,  business,  and  employment  a  person 
is  engaged,  because  every  thing  so  done  is  of  Use  to 
society,  and  Use  is  good,  and  good  in  a  sense  abstracted 
from  persons  is  our  neighbour.  Not  only  individual 
men,  but  also  a  society  of  men,  and  a  man's  country  in 
general,  are  his  neighbour.     T.  4)22. 


68 


THE  USEFUL  LIFE 


HOW  THE  INTERNAL  AND  EXTERNAL.  MAN  ARE 
CONJOINED 

Gen.  XXX.  3-5.  In  the  process  of  man's  regeneration, 
the  internal  man  is  to  be  conjoined  with  the  external, 
consequently  the  goods  and  truths  of  the  internal  man 
are  to  be  conjoined  to  the  goods  and  truths  of  the  ex- 
ternal, for  man  is  man  from  goods  and  truths.  These 
cannot  be  conjoined  without  media.  Media  are  those 
things  which  derive  something  from  the  one  part,  and 
something  from  the  other,  and  which  have  this  effect, 
that  in  proportion  as  man  approaches  to  the  one,  the 
other  becomes  subordinate.  These  media  are  the  things 
which  are  signified  by  the  handmaids  here  spoken  of; 
the  media  on  the  part  of  the  internal  man,  by  the 
handmaids  of  Rachel,  and  the  media  on  the  part  of  the 
external  man,  by  the  handmaids  of  Leah.  That  media 
of  conjunction  are  necessary,  may  appear  from  the  fact, 
that  the  natural  man  of  himself  is  in  no  agreement 
with  the  spiritual  man,  but  in  such  a  state  of  disagree- 
ment, as  to  be  altogether  opposite;  for  the  natural  man 
regards  and  loves  himself  and  the  world,  whereas  the 
spiritual  man  does  not  regard  himself  and  the  world, 
except  in  so  far  as  is  conducive  to  promote  Uses  in  the 
spiritual  world,  thus  he  regards  its  service,  and  loves 
it  from  its  Use  and  end.  The  natural  man  seems  to 
himself  to  have  life,  when  he  is  exalted  to  dignities, 
and  so  to  super-eminence  over  others,  but  the  spiritual 
seems  to  himself  to  have  life  in  humiliation,  and  in 
being  the  least ;  not  that  he  despises  dignities,  if  by 
them,  as  media,  he  can  be  serviceable  to  his  neighbour, 

69 


THE  USEFUL   LIFE 

to  society  in  general,  and  to  the  Church;  nor  does  he 
reflect  upon  the  dignities  to  which  he  is  advanced,  for 
the  sake  of  himself,  but  of  those  Uses  which  he  regards 
as  ends.  By  interior  communications  a  spirit  is  disposed 
to  Use,  to  which  he  is  led  without  being  aware  of  it 
himself.    A.  C.  3913,  M.  R. 


THE    USES    AND    ABUSES    OF    KNOWLEDGE 

Gen.  xn.  12.  The  science  of  knowledges  is  only  as 
somewhat  instrumental  for  the  sake  of  Use,  viz.,  that 
knowledges  may  serve  as  vessels  for  the  reception  of 
things  celestial  and  spiritual ;  and  when  they  are  thus 
serviceable,  they  then  first  begin  to  be  of  Use,  and  re- 
ceive their  delight  from  Use.  It  may  appear  plain 
to  every  attentive  observer,  that  the  science  of  know- 
ledges is  designed  in  itself  for  no  other  end,  than  that 
man  may  become  rational,  and  thereby  spiritual,  and 
at  length  celestial,  and  that  by  means  of  knowledges 
the  external  man  may  be  adjoined  to  the  internal:  when 
this  is  the  case,  then  man  is  principled  in  Use,  for  the 
internal  man  regards  nothing  but  Use.  It  is  with  a 
view  to  this  end,  that  the  Lord  insinuates  also  the  de- 
light which  is  perceived  by  children  and  young  persons 
in  learning  the  sciences.  But  when  man  begins  to  place 
his  delight  in  mere  science,  he  is  then  influenced  by  cor- 
poreal lust,  and  in  proportion  as  he  is  so  influenced,  or 
places  his  delight  in  mere  science,  he  removes  himself 
from  what  is  celestial,  and  his  scientifics  become  closed 
toward  the  Lord,  and  are  rendered  material;  but  in 
proportion  as  scientifics  are  acquired  with  a  view  to  Use, 
whether  for  the  sake  of  human  society,  or  the  Lord's 

70 


THE   USEFUL   LIFE 

church  on  earth,  or  his  kingdom  in  heaven,  and  more 
especially  for  the  Lord's  sake,  they  are  more  opened 
toward  the  Lord,  and  become  spiritual;  wherefore  also 
the  angels,  who  are  principled  in  the  science  of  all 
knowledges,  and  that  in  such  a  manner,  that  scarce  a 
thousandth  part  can  be  unfolded  to  man's  apprehen- 
sion, yet  esteem  knowledges  as  nothing  in  comparison  of 
Use.    A.  C.  1472. 

NATURAL    LIGHT     NOT     ORIGINATING    IN     PRIDE 

But  what  is  meant  by  natural  light  proceeding  from 
glory  originating  in  pride,  shall  briefly  be  explained: 
there  exists  natural  light  from  the  glorj^  which  origi- 
nates in  pride,  and  likewise  which  does  not  originate  in 
pride;  light  from  glory  originating  in  pride  is  in  those 
who  are  in  self-love,  and  thence  in  all  kinds  of  evils, 
which  if  they  do  not  perpetrate  for  fear  of  suffering 
in  their  reputation,  and  likewise  condemn  as  being  con- 
trary to  morality  and  to  the  public  good,  still  they  do 
not  consider  them  as  sins.  But  natural  light  from  glory 
which  does  not  originate  in  pride,  is  in  those  who  are 
in  the  delight  of  Uses  proceeding  from  genuine  love 
toward  their  neighbour,  the  natural  light  of  these 
is  also  rational  light  within  which  there  is  spiritual 
light  from  the  Lord;  the  glory  in  them  is  from  the 
brightness  of  the  influent  light  from  heaven  where  all 
things  are  splendid  and  harmonious,  for  all  Uses  in 
heaven  are  resplendent;  from  these  Uses  the  pleasant- 
ness in  the  ideas  of  the  thought  with  such  is  perceived 
as  glory ;  it  enters  through  the  will  and  its  goods,  into 
the  understanding  and  its  truths,  and  in  the  latter  be- 
comes manifest. 

71 


Date  due 


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